ExplorationStuck
by JohnEgbert 413
Summary: An A.U in which the Beta/Alpha Kids and the twelve Trolls work for a space company that explores the universe. (Updating regularly; every character is currently receiving their own back-story. The "real" part of the A.U will begin afterwards. T for language and way later on. Also, if anyone has any questions about the timeline and/or how people are related, feel free to ask!).
1. The Funeral

May 17, 2213

Isn't it funny how it always seems to rain on a funeral? Maybe funny wasn't the right adjective though. Tragic might have worked better. At least, John felt like it did. He stood there, a lonely boy, watching as his father's coffin was lowered into the ground. He was the only family member there; everyone else was a co-worker of sorts paying their respects. It was a simple burial, nothing fancy. Dad would have liked it for himself. He was a humble man who only wanted to live a good life. Up until then, he did. A few days ago, John would have been smiling, laughing at a lame prank he pulled. Now all he could feel happy about was that the rain hid his tears. He should be better than that; Dad wouldn't want John to cry over him. He thought back to their last conversation. It... wasn't as good as it should have been.

May 13, 2213

John was playing some stupid game when Dad walked into his room. He looked like he was in a hurry, though John didn't notice at the time. John didn't notice much about Dad in general. Focusing on his game, he absent-mindedly asked, "Hey Dad, what's up?"

Dad smiled at his son. "Oh, nothing much John. I just wanted to tell you that I've been called into work again, so I won't be here for the rest of the evening. I made sure dinner was made though, and I should be back before midnight."

John nodded, still entirely captivated by his game. "Ok. Bye."

His father seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I love you Son."

"Yeah, you too."

Dad seemed a bit saddened by his response, but slowly closed the door. John heard him walk down the stairs and out the house. He barely noticed the car's engine start up as Dad left the driveway.

That would have been the last thing John ever said to his father.

It was dark when the rain hit. It sure was raining a lot these days, Dad probably thought to himself. He'd probably need to get John a new umbrella soon; one can never be too safe with family. As Dad turned onto a road when the upper-right side of the car was hit by a black car without its lights on, going well over 40 miles the limit. Dad's car spun out of control on the slick road, though he tried his best to get his vehicle back under his domain. He did stop though, as soon as he hit a light pole. Before impact, Dad had the smallest solace that the last thing he'd able to see was a picture of John and himself, hanging from his mirror. He always kept that picture with him, when John first started playing the piano. That was one of John's happiest memories, so it was also one of Dad's. Then the car hit; everything slowed down.

The windshield shattered.

Glass rained on his face just as the water did.

His picture became ruined with water and blood.

There was a high-pitched noise battling with the thumping of his head.

The cold water fought with his warm blood.

He did his best to hold on, to live, to see another day with John,

But a person can only do so much. Even love has its limits.

Dad resisted for as long as he could, but slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes began to close for one, final rest.

His thoughts had stopped.

His heart had stopped.

His life had stopped.

The only thing that went on was the black car.

The next day wasn't going so well for John. Dad wasn't back when he said he would be, so John woke up later than usual. In fact, if he didn't skip breakfast and his shower, he would have missed the bus entirely. Maybe Dad had to work later than he thought. John always got a little worried when Dad was out this long, but it wasn't unheard of. One time, Dad spent almost a solid week at work trying to fix a technical error. Dad's determination to not give up on something was quite admirable. Though... He did always make sure to get John ready for school and to have dinner ready. This wasn't like him at all.

Well, best not to worry about it. John had an entire day of school to bog him down. John just tuned out all of the people, the noise, the hustle of every day activities. He just wanted to get home and back to his games. Finally, as the school day came to an end, John reached his house, though was a bit put off when Dad both wasn't home and dinner hadn't been made. This was most certainly not like him whatsoever.

Unloading his things, he heard a car pull into the drive way. That must be Dad right there! As he opened the door though, he saw a police officer make his way to him. On seeing John, the police officer seemed to look kinda sad.

"Hey kid," he started out with. "is there umm, is there an adult here?"

John shook his head. "No Sir, but my dad should be back soon."

The cop grimaced. "I see... So, what's your name?"

"John."

"It's nice to meet you John. Do you have any relatives nearby?"

John shook his head. "No Sir. Just me and Dad. Why?"

"Oh... So John... Do you play games?"

John nodded again.

"You know, games can be fun a lot, but sometimes... They're not fair."

Panic slowly built inside of John. "W-what do you mean?"

It can't be. No, no he's not gonna say what John thought he would.

"Do you know where your dad was last night?"

"He was at work. He'll be back soon, we just have to wait for him." John said, pure terror slowly engulfing him.

"John... He's not coming back... He died last night, in a car crash... I'm sorry."

John just stared at the officer. "You know... You're... You're not funny! I know a prank when I see one, and this is one of the WORST ONES EVER!"

The officer tried to say more, but John ran off before he could say a word. He locked the door behind him. It just... Couldn't be. That guy was lying. Had to be. John was in a corner, rocking himself slowly as memories bounced through his mind.

'I love you John' 'I should be back before midnight' 'You make me so proud Son!' 'Happy Birthday John!' 'I love you Son'

'Ugh go away Dad' 'Yeah, you too' 'Dad, youre embarrassing me' 'God, cant you leave me alone?' 'Im not a little kid anymore Dad!'

Each one hit harder than the last. Each one causing John to sob harder and harder. Each one reminding him of what he took for granted, of what he lost.

The cop knocked on the door. "John, you have to come out of there."

"GO AWAY!" John shouted.

"Look... I can't say I know what you're going through... But I've read up on your father. He was a good man. He wouldn't want you to be acting like this."

That sentence, that once sentence, snapped John into an immediate numbness. He was right... Dad... He'd want John to be better than this. He'd want John to be strong... And he'd have to be now. He'd have to be strong for the both of them.

John unlocked the door and quietly walked to the police car. The next few days pasted in a blur. Being moved from place to place, until the day came.

Dad's funeral.

It went by, uneventful. Co-workers paying their dues, giving John his space. They talked of sports, of t.v shows, politics, so forth. John just looked at the casket. The only person who had ever loved him, the one person who took care of him, was lying in a casket three feet away from him.

So there he stood, a lonely boy, watching his father's body go into the ground. He had no one now.

He was alone.

A man came up to him, after the burial was finished. He was an older man, taller than John and had graying hair.

"Hello young man; are you John by chance?"

John slowly nodded. "Yes... Who's asking?"

The man smiled at him. "Harely. Mr. Harely. I worked with your father. He said that, in case of his of sudden... Dismissal, that you were to be placed in my care."

John hesitated. Could he trust this man? Well... It was better than a foster home, he guessed.

"And don't worry, all the legalities have been taken care of. I'm sure we'll get along swimmingly. We just need to grab your belongings and proceed to my home. In fact, I have a granddaughter around your age. You two will be best of friends, I'm sure!"

John didn't know what to make of it. Suddenly just... A new home? Well... It can't be that bad. He nodded. "Alright Sir."

"Most excellent my boy! Now, off we go!"

Whatever life John was just given, he was going to make the best of it. He'd make Dad proud, wherever he was.


	2. A Fateful Meeting

September 14, 2217

See, it's hard being cool. Dave knew this better than anyone. Being cool meant doing stuff like eating food you didn't like or wearing shades at night. Being cool can cause problems though, which was painfully obvious for him, as some guy just ran into him. Dave didn't even see it coming. He hoped the guy didn't lose of a few brain cells.

Helping him up, Dave asked, "Hey, you ok man?"

On his feet, the stranger was a little taller than him, but he had a slouch. Running his hand through his dark hair, he replied, "Heh, yeah. I'm ok. Sorry about rushing into you; I have somewhere I need to be. Speaking of, I really do need to go."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Wow, just gonna plow into me without taking me out? Well damn don't I feel cheap."

This guy seemed to actually take him seriously for some reason. He flustered a bit, like he did feel bad. "I mean, I could buy you a meal."

"Dude, I was joking. You're cute and all, but you're not really my type. Thanks though; I'm touched."

He scoffed. "I meant a "Sorry-I-Ran-Into-You" meal thing, not a date!" He looked at his watch. "I can spare an hour or so. I was just trying to be early." He stuck his hand out to Dave. "The name's John, by the way."

Dave shook his hand. "Hi John By-The-Way. Dave."

This John guy must have thought that was funny because a goofy smile popped up on his face. "Heh, well, I don't think that's my last name, but it'll work for now. So, I know a good place nearby; wanna grab a bite to eat?"

Who was this guy? Regular people don't just do this. Well, whatever, Dave guessed. Who could turn down a free meal? Even if this John was some weirdo, Dave felt like he could hold his own against him.

John lead him down the sidewalk, probably to some fast food joint or something.

"So, where were you running to?" Dave asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, just some meeting. My boss sent me down here to talk to some big-wigs and all that. Space isn't cheap!" He looked like he said too much because he stopped after that.

Space huh? So he's dealing with an astro-nut. Dave guessed that was cool. Space wasn't really his thing, but everyone flows to their own beat.

"That's cool. I guess you can't slingshot yourself there like they do in the cartoons."

"Well, with a big enough slingshot, I bet we could."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Dude, there's no way you could build a slingshot that'd gave you enough constant momentum to escape the atmosphere and actually live. Even if you did, you'd have to make sure the ship didn't fuck up the trajectory and crash on some island or some shit."

This seemed to confused John. "Uh-huh... I mean, you're right." He looked away, like he was thinking about something else. He probably didn't know Dave was screwing with him. "Oh! Anyway, we're here now."

Well damn, Dave guessed he was eating his own words. This was some top-notch fancy stuff right here. Could John even afford to stand around in this joint? He didn't look like he was lacking in cash, but he sure didn't look like he was loaded with dough either.

After being seated and ordering their meals, Dave asked, "So tell me, what exactly are you doing in space?"

He hesitated. "You know, this and that. Space stuff." He was avoiding the question.

Dave scoffed. "Look, I'm just a guy off the street. I'm sure your license-to-kill orders can calm down this one time." Dave said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well... I guess you're right." He looked around, like he wanted to make sure no one was listening, and leaned in to Dave. "You know S.B.U.R.B., right?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah, that space company that sent a billion robots to Mars."

"Yepp. I work for them. In fact, we're working on a project right now! We're going to send a two teams of people to explore a planet we've discovered in a near-by galaxy!" He sounded extremely excited.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sure you egg-heads are smart, but you can't be that smart. You couldn't possibly build something that'd be able to reach it in your lifetime. Only light can go that fast, and the closer to light you get, the harder it is to get to it. This is basic physics man."

John reflected for a moment. "Dave, what do you do?"

"I'm a full-time college drop-out." He answered with sarcastic pride.

"Why did you drop out? You seem like you'd do pretty well."

"Nah man. Cramped my style."

"I see..." John was about to say more, but their food had arrived. Dave ate his meal while thinking of this guy he just met. He seemed alright, though pretty damn dorky. They ate, both lost in their own thoughts. Afterwards, John paid the bill and the two of them left the restaurant.

"So Dave, how would you like to be on board?"

Did he hear this guy right? Dave didn't know how to respond. He was just offered a freaking space ride to a new planet. Hmm... A thought occurred to him.

"Could I bring someone along?"

John thought for a moment. "I guess it depends on who it was."

"He's one of the best damned mechanics this side of the globe."

This seemed to sway John. "Well, we'll look into it." He handed Dave a card. "Give me a call when you decide." He looked at his watch. "Ah crap! Now I am running late! Bye Dave; I hope to talk to you in the future!" John said as he dashed off into a different direction.

Hmm... Well, this seemed like something worth checking out, at least. Dave pulled at his phone to make a call. After ringing for a minute or so, it went to voice-mail.

"Hey Dirk, I think I got something coming up that you might be interested in..."


	3. Jade's Promise

_February 4, 2205_

"Grandpa, what's up there?" Jade asked as they both looked into the night sky.

"Why my dear, anything you can imagine! Everything you can dream of lies in that mysterious void." Her grandfather said, lost in his own thoughts. "Soon, we'll be able to explore it's vast reaches. I fear that I might not live to see it though..." His voice trailed off as Jade looked at him.

"Grandpa! Don't say that. I'll make sure you see space one day!"

He chuckled at his granddaughter's statement. "Well, if anyone could find a way to explore the depth of our universe, I have no doubt that'd be you."

Jade nodded, looking back to the sky. She'd find a way into space for her grandpa. She knew she would.  
>She felt it.<p>

_May 17, 2213_

Grandpa wasn't home when she got back from school. Hmm... That's weird. Well, he's probably working still. He was an ox, her grandfather. His health hadn't been the best lately, but he was persistent in his work. He truly was quite the role model!

Anyway, it's time to get cracking! Jade had been working on this project for years now. She had a theory; if she could harvest atomic energy and transfer that into a safer combustion process, space travel could be possible! Well, it's a theory, at least. It might not work, but by golly, Jade was gonna try!

After pulling out her notes though, Jade heard the front door opening; it must have been Grandpa! Leaving her research where it was, Jade ran to the main hall where she saw her grandfather and a sad looking boy with a suitcase. Hmm... She should do something to cheer him up. After giving Grandpa a hug, she dashed to the kitchen to grab an apple. Apples cheered people up, right? Returning, the boy was looking down, and he had a gloomy feeling about him. Now Jade was determined to help him.

Handing him the apple, she said, "Hi there! I'm Jade."

He seemed to lighten up a little, at least enough to have a small smile. Accepting the apple, he replied, "Hi. I'm John."

Grandpa put a hand on her shoulders. "I'm glad you two are starting off on a good foot. Now John, I need to discuss our current situation with Jade here; could you wait here a moment?"

He nodded as Grandpa lead her to a side room. "Now Jade, John will be living with us for an indefinite amount of time. He's in a rather fragile state at the moment, as he's recently lost his father to a terrible accident."

Jade gasped. That poor boy... Grandpa was everything to her. She couldn't possibly imagine how she'd react if anything ever happened to him. "Well don't worry Grandpa; I'll take care of him as best I can!"

He hesitated, as though he had more to say. "Jade, my dear... There's another thing you need to know of John."

She titled her head.

"You see... I'm something of a selfish old man... You know how your mother died giving birth to you?"

Of course she knew that. Where was he going with this?

"Well... Your father was also John's. After my daughter's death... I couldn't bear it. He was kind enough to allow me to raise you. John isn't aware of this, as you weren't yourself. I tell you this now because I trust your judgment better than my own. I want you to tell John, if you decide to, whenever you think it best. Please... Don't think less of me for keeping this from you. I was selfish... And I'm sorry."

Jade was in shock. That meant her own father had died just a few days ok, too, and that the sad boy was her own brother. She couldn't bring herself to be cross with Grandpa though; she loved him. At least he told her now. "Ok Grandpa... I'll tell him when I think he should know. Until then, I'm gonna go make him feel better!" She dashed out of the room, while a smiling Grandpa watcher her. She found her brother looking around at his new home.

"Hey John! So, you're gonna live with us for awhile, huh?"

He nodded. "I guess."

She smiled at him. "Well, I'll show you the house! You might get kinda lost if you don't know your way around." She offered him her hand.

John looked at her and then to her hand. That small smile was on his face again. "Sure... That sounds fun."

"Great! We'll pick out a room for you and I'll show you my room and the game room and ..." Her voice went on as she dragged her unknowing brother throughout the enormous house.

_January 11, 2216_

By the time Jade had rushed to the main office, John's nose had almost stopped bleeding. Jade sighed, as she knew what probably happened. Upon her arrival, John sighed slightly. His voice was nasally, since he was pinching his nose.

"Hey Jade; here to give me the speech again."

Ugh. John could be so annoying sometimes. "No you dumbass, I'm here because you need someone that can tolerate your B.S. John, you can't keep doing this to yourself. They're not worth it."

John began to walk around. "They're not, but he is. You don't hear what they say. 'Oh look, its the Daddys Boy without a daddy'. 'Try not to slip Egbert; like father, like son'. Every day Jade. They just step on him man."

"John... He wouldn't want this for you."

John let go of his nose, throwing his hands up. "THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE SAYS! Do you know what I want? MY FUCKING DAD BACK! NO ONE HERE KNOWS WHAT I'VE LOST! NO ONE-"

And that's when Jade snapped. She loved John, she really did, but he always used the same reason every time. "SHUT UP JOHN! JUST SHUT UP!"

He stopped. Jade rarely raised her voice, but it mattered when she did.

"Look... I know you miss your dad. I know that you're hurting. I know, ok?... I know. Don't you remember all the hours of us laying on the roof talking about it? All the times I've been there for you? You can't say I don't know John... Because I do. You're like a brother to me, and I love you. I just don't want you to do this to yourself because you're not doing anyone any good getting into fights. One day, it won't be some school bully. It'll be someone who could really hurt you, and I just... I just don't want to see that happen to you."

There was still a spark of anger in John's eyes, but underneath it, Jade saw something that made her ache; she saw that little boy that Grandpa brought to their house. The same one who watched his father being buried. He leaned against a wall and slid down, sobbing into his hands.

"I just... I don't know what to do without him... I always took him for granted, and everyday, I'm reminded of how much I didn't love him... How much he cared when I didn't..." He said as he tried to control his sobbing.

Jade sat by him as she put her arm around John. "But you do, John. If you didn't care, you wouldn't have been sad at all. I'm sure your father knew you loved him, even if you didn't say it as much as he did."

John was silent. Jade didn't push. The two of them sat there, the caring sister and her unknowing brother.

_July 10, 2220_

It was a sunny, beautiful day. Jade and John sat in the front row of the room, the other eight-teen cosmonauts giving them both space. John was with her because he was really the only one who understood.

He knew how much it hurt to be alone at a funeral.

He passed away, Jade's Grandpa. He had a heart-attack as he slept a few nights ago. Jade... Jade was the one to find him. Paramedics informed her that it was quick, and that he barely felt a thing. This didn't stop her from breaking down, however. John made sure she was alright though, much like she's done for him many times over the past few years. The company held it's own grieving arrangement, as it lost one of it's original founders, but the two teams held the true funeral. Without Jade's Grandpa, many would be living an entirely different life. John and Jade sat closest to the casket. Besides Jane and Jake, they were the only family members there. While they were related, one by blood and the other marriage, neither really knew Grandpa as well as Jade or John. Their fellow colleagues left them to their own thoughts. Jade needed John as much as he needed her now.

She cried into John's shoulder as the casket was lowered into the ground. She thought back to her promise all those years ago... He would never explore that limitless vastness... He was in a different kind of void now. One by one, the others left them to themselves. Rose lingered, wanting to offer her therapeutic help, but Dave put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. The two of them left, leaving Jade and John to talk.

After a few minutes, John said, "I remember, all those years ago, when your grandpa met me at my dad's funeral... I never thought I'd go to his... I just, I never thought... He seemed immortal, you know?"

Jade softly nodded. "H-he was quite the ox." She stifled a sob. "He's the whole reason I even developed the G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N. I promised... And now he's gone... We were so close to launching..."

"I know... I'm sorry Jade... I can't say anything that won't make it hurt any less; there's nothing anyone can say that'll do that. But I'm here for you, and I always will be."

A thought crossed her mind. One that hadn't in awhile. "John... Did Grandpa ever tell you why you lived with us?"

Confused, he replied, "Some arrangement with my dad or something?"

"Yeah... He told me to tell you when I thought you should know. Now that he's gone... It seems like a good time. We're related, you and me... You're my brother."

Now it was John's turn to be silent. Moments past before he responds. "Why didn't either of you tell me before? I thought I was alone for years..."

"But you weren't. You had us, John. But now... We're all we have left."

They were quiet for a time.

"You know, Jade... I always felt a connection with you two, somehow. And... don't worry. We'll make them proud, Dad and Grandpa. I know we will. We'll get through this. Together." He said as he wrapped his arm around her.

For the first time in the past few days, Jade smiled, even if it was a small one. "Yeah... you're right. We will."

She knew they would.

She felt it.


	4. A Light Appointment

February 14, 2218

Post-traumatic stress disorder, with severe symptoms of survivor's guilt and anxiety. At least, that's what the diagnosis said. Rose read her first patient's file with curious wonder. She had finished college far earlier than most, though it was rather unusual to be hired this newly. Perhaps it had something to do with the sudden increase in members of her family working for a rather wealthy company. Her cousin mentioned it to her a month or so ago, though Rose couldn't quite understand what she was saying at the time. She must have sent word to the people affiliated with the corporation that she, Rose, was a psychiatrist. In doing so, she must have gained their watching eye and sent this individual here as a test of sorts to see if her own services were required. She wouldn't have been so paranoid about the situation if her hiring was not as luxurious as it was. She was being paid well over what an experienced therapist would have cost. This shows an undoubted sign of interest. Or stupidity. In any case, if her theory was correct, this could lead to quite the intriguing venture.

Ah, there he is. Her eyebrow ever so slightly rose as she studied him. He must not have been the one hire her, tell-able due to his uncomfortable stance. He was somewhat young, at least two years her junior. His eyes twitched, darting about the room. He was nervous. This must have meant that he was sent here as either a test for her or because of an intervention of sorts. Interesting.

As he sat down, Rose spoke to him. "Hello there Mr. Egbert. How are we feeling today."

He finally looked at her. "Oh, can't complain."

A small smile tugged at Rose's face. "Well, Mr. Egbert, seeing as I'm being well compensated for our session, I would have to say you may complain about anything you choose to."

Apparently her joke didn't seem to breach him, as he took it literally. "I mean, I could complain about being forced here."

Ah, so it was the latter theory. There must be more to this than what met her eye. "I see. So, tell me, why have you been 'forced' here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because the people I live with think I have a problem."

Rose reflected upon how to comment. "In a way, don't we all have a problem, Mr. Egb-"

Though he tried to sound light hearted, Rose could hear tension when he said, "Could you just call me John? Mr. Egbert has some heavy stuff attached to it."

So it was a father issue. Rose also noted that he didn't use 'family' when he mentioned those who sent him here. Though his file mentioned his mental instabilities, it nary went over the cause. She tried to subtly influence him to tell her. "I see. Well, if we are going to be on a first-name basis, allow me to introduce myself." She extended her hand. "Lalonde. Rose Lalonde."

He shook her hand, though there was a light in his eye that suggested humor.

"Now we're on much friendlier terms. So tell me John, what problem do your fellow-housemates believe ails you?"

He hesitated. "They think I have a problem accepting my dad's death."

Oh... Well... Rose was not quite sure how to react. This did, however, clear much of the mystery surrounding his appointment with her. A death in a family is an awful experience for anyone.

"I see... And why do they believe that?"

"I dunno. Why do you think?"

He was going to dodge her questions, wasn't he? Alright. Rose knew how to play this game.

"I'm not quite sure, John. However, I would like you to know that I am willing to help if there is in fact a problem."

"Well, I was trying to tie my shoes today, but I couldn't get the bunny through the hole." He said, dodging again.

She nodded. Getting out of her chair, she walked to the window and looked out of it. She could wait.

Minutes tick by, as Rose looked out her window. John didn't have to tell her a thing, though she knew he would. It's obvious he wants to talk about it on some level, but he needs severe coaxing, which is exactly what she'll do.

By the twelve minute mark, John exclaimed, "Fine! God! They're right, ok? I used to get into a lot of fights back in school, and I still carry around some notes my dad wrote for me."

And there we go. Now they can progress. "And why do you do that John?"

He got up and began to pace. "Because it's the only way I can show that I love him. Don't you see, doesn't anyone see?! He died thinking that I didn't love him, and honestly, he may have been right. I never appreciated him when I should have, I never told him I loved him when I needed to!" He yelled as he waved his arms around. "He... He..." John sat back into the chair, both hands on his forehead. "He wrote me a note, that night... I found it after the funeral... I keep it with me everywhere I go." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.

It read:

Dear John,

I know I have to leave you alone a lot, but just know that I'll always come  
>back for you. I love you very much; you make me so proud Son.<p>

Rose was silent. She stared at the note, realizing that this was the last thing his father left for him. At that moment, the money didn't matter. It didn't matter if this was some test. She looked at John and she could see guilt in his eyes. She could picture him as a child, most likely sitting alone at his father's funeral. She handed him the note back.

"He sounds like he was a very caring father, John." She said, after some time.

He nodded. "He was... God I'm sorry... I swear I'm usually better than this." He said as he wiped his tears on his shirt.

She slowly put her hand on his shoulder. "He'd still be proud of you today, you know that right?"

"I wouldn't go that far... But sure.."

She shook her head. "No John, he would. I've studied behavioral patterns for years now, and I can promise you he would. I know you've probably disclosed to information to at least one other trusted source, but I can promise you he'd be proud of the man you've turn into." She took her other hand to raise his eyes to her's. His eyes were slightly red from crying, but he looked back. She smiled, attempting to cheer him up. He smiled, even if it was a small one.

"Thanks... I know I can't be fixed in a pep talk... But this helped a little."

"You can't be fixed because you're not broken. No one is truly broken. Hurt, depressed, suicidal even, but no one is ever broken. On some level, everyone has the will to perseverance and because of that, no one can be broken."

He looked at her, a stranger he had just met, and his smile grew a little. "Thanks Rose... Really."

As he said that, an older man walked in. John turned to him and was surprised. "Mr. Harely?"

He nodded. "Hello John." He turned to Rose. "And hello there to you, Miss Lalonde."

Rose was confused by this interruption as much as John was. "May I help you Sir?"

"Ah, indeed you can! John, would you allow me to have a word in private with Miss Lalonde here?"

Slowly, John exited the room.

Rose eyed the stranger. "So, you must have been the one to hire me to John's case."

He smiled. "Indeed I did young lady. You came highly recommended from an employee of mine."

"Roxy?" Rose asked, knowing the answer.

He nodded. "The very same. While a few other members of your family mentioned you, Roxanne was the one to make you shine. I have a job for you, if you'd like it."

Rose weighed his question. "Was John some test?"

"Well, yes and no. I wanted to see you in action, and I also believe John needs help. My granddaughter has straightened him up a good deal, but he needs a professional." He began to cough excessively. As Rose made her way to help him, he waved her away. When he was done, he said, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. In any case, would you like the job? I promise it pays well, plus once-in-a-lifetime bonus."

Hmm... "I see. So, what is this job?"

"I want you to be a light for a team. Everyone loses their way, especially in space, and I want you to make sure that people stay grounded. I'm sure you've heard of space dementia?"

"I suppose."

He nodded. "People can go a bit bonkers up there, I'm afraid, so I want you to make sure their mental health stays in check."

"Wait... You intend to send me, into space?"

He smiled at her. "Indeed I do Miss Lalonde, indeed I do! That is, of course, if you agree."

Well, this certainly was quite the interesting day. There wasn't any way to say no to this offer. Plus... She liked John well enough. He was a good guy, and another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt. "Alright Sir."

"Most excellent my dear madame! Come along, I'll speed you up on our way to S.B.U.R.B headquarters. And don't worry about the lease on this building; I made sure to arrange everything to be taken care of."

Though that last statement disturbed her a bit, Rose gathered her personal belongings and left for what promised to be quite the adventure.


	5. Up a Tree Without a Drink

March 28, 2218

Well wasn't this just a kick in the talleywhacker? Not only was he stranded in an Amazonian jungle, but he forgot to bring a refreshing beverage. He couldn't believe he made that big of a boner. Not the jungle part ,of course, but the beverage. As a up-and-coming adventurer, it was up to him, Jake English, to find and discover new varieties of life. This was an everyday thing, being stranded, but having no drink was absolutely unfathomable! The mere concept of lacking a nice lemonade or a cola of sorts grinded his gears. All well, no matter he supposed. In any case, he did have a bit of a situation on his hands. Seeing as he was chased up a tree by a wild boar, Jake indeed did have a few other problems on his hands besides a beverage-shortage.

It began some time ago, when Jake first entered the jungle. He waved away all those who offered to be a guide, as he was a top-notched explorer! Walking through the heavy vegetation, he noticed a set of tracks on the ground, most likely that of a herbivore. Hooves are quite the definable track, and with that, Jake decided to follow said tracks back to the animal that had in which laid them. It would undoubtedly make a filling meal. That was legal. Probably.

The tracks ended at a river bed. Ah, so this animal was one the move, wasn't it? No matter, Jake English was on it's trail, so tally ho good adventurer! He would simply swim across this harmless river. Luckily, it was calmer water and not like the rapids he had traversed before. And, best of all, his adventurer-sack was entirely water, fire, and in some cases people proof. However, he did notice that something of a pickle was arising when he felt a sudden sting on his left calve. And then on his other leg. Ah, so a fiendish fish wants to go toe-to-toe now does it? Well, toe-ti-fin, but that's besides the point! Hmm... Well, after thrashing at the watery fiend for a bit, Jake realized that it was not the best approach. It actually seemed to be provoking further aggression. Nature had won this battle. Jake devote his energy from fight to flight as he paddled faster. When he reached the opposite shore, he retrieved one of his pistols from his sack. The perpetrator swam a distance, waiting to receive another bite of English meat. Well not today you carnivorous rat! Jake shot with deadly accuracy into the water, hitting his mark. The fish stopped and began to float to the surface. Quite the monster it was.

Well, that was quite the sidetrack. Plus he did just alert every creature within hearing distance and greater of his current location. Shucks. All well, what's done is done right? On-wards to bigger and better things, like finding that herbivore! The trail was considerably harder to follow, but Jake was hot on it! He fancied himself quite the tracker. And track he did. For almost an hour, Jake went through great effort to find the animal that left such hooveprints. Though, he was disappointed to find that it was merely a boar, a young one at that. There was no reason to harm it in anyway, so Jake proceeded to attempt to pet it. However, the mother of said boar disagreed with his thoughts. Jake couldn't hurt this creature either, as it was just a parent protecting its child, so he allowed it to chase him. So, there he sat, up a tree with absolutely no refreshing beverages. Blasted waste of time.

As he began to sit back and wait for the boar to give up, his satellite phone rang. Wasn't this a lovely surprise? Very few people actually called him while he was away. Digging through his sack, he find the ringing phone.

"Hello, Jake English speaking."

"Jake? Bah, you're in a jungle again aren't you?"

Even better! It was his uncle. While they weren't quite close, he did fund nearly every one of Jake's ventures. "Indeed I am Uncle. I was just contemplating my lack of drinks with me. So, what is the rare occasion that brought you to call me?"

"Well my dear boy, I have something of a proposition and favor to ask. As you know, I run the S.B.U.R.B corporation."

"Of course Uncle!"

"Right! Now, I have need of an explorer like yourself to take part of my crew. Not only would you be well compensated, but I'm quite sure you'd jump at the chance to adventure across a new world."

Jump? Jake would fly! Even if he only discovered one new species, his name would still go down as an exploring expert.

"Why didn't you say so sooner Uncle?! And here I am playing with boars and fish, worrying about lemonade. I'm on my way back in two shakes of a lamb's tail!"

"Most excellent my lad, most excellent!" He began to cough violently on the other end.

"Uncle, are you alright?" Jake asked with mild panic.

After his fit was over, Jake heard, "I'm quite alright. Just the old iron lungs giving me a run for my money. I'll see to it that you have transport directly here. Just make sure to return to the airport you arrived in."

"Yes Sir! I'm certainly looking forward to this!"

"I knew you would Jake, I knew you would. I'll talk brief you upon your arrival. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye Uncle Harely!"

He hung up his phone. Alright, time to stop playing with this beastly boar. Taking out a rope from his adventure sack, he tied it into a lasso shape. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten himself into a predicament like this one. He threw it onto a nearby branch and swung, jumping as he reached the ground. The boar turned to him as he sprinted off. It gave it a good effort, but Jake managed to out-maneuver the creature. He had bigger fish to fry indeed! This would be the adventure of a lifetime, he knew it!


	6. A Quick Arrangement

_January 2, 2218_

It was the sound that Roxy first noticed. Well, either that or the pounding in her head woke her up. She had been drinking heavily for the past few days, but hey, it was like, New Years. She couldn't remember most of her partying, but she was really sure she had a blast. Cracking her eye open, she looked at her head-splitting alarm and saw that it was half past eight. She was gonna be late.

Again.

Damn it. Pushing herself out of bed, she threw on her uniform, along with some sunglasses, and stumbled her way out of her apartment. She needed to like, get a hold of herself. Hopefully her headache would go away soon. Or maybe the sun could just stop. That'd be nice too. As she exited the building, the noise of the city assaulted her ears. God, don't people know it's eight in the morning? Ugh.

At least traffic wasn't that bad. Well, she missed most of it because she was late. She really needed to ease up on parties. As she pulled into the company lot, the guardsman stopped her at the gate. She dug around for her I.D badge so she didn't get like, tazed or some shit like that. While she dug for it, he knocked on her window. Crap.

She rolled it down. "Hey Scott. Isn't it a beautiful morning?" She asked, putting on a fake smile.

He smiled back, though his had more humor to it. "Hello Miss Lalonde. I didn't know sunglasses were back in style."

Damn. He always knew. Roxy rolled her eyes. "I know I know. Look, I just really gotta check in."

He nodded. "Yepp. You seem like you're running late. Your I.D?"

She sighed. "Scott, you like, know me. Just let me in. Please?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "Rules are rules Miss Lalonde." Ugh! She couldn't find it. As she looked back to him though, it was in his hand. "You should keep better track of company property. You never know who'll find it."

Snatching it from him, she said, "Yeah yeah. I'll see you later."

He chuckled. "You certainly will. I know you won't go to the lost-and-found, that's for sure."

She smiled as she drove away. She worked for some tech company or something. She was an amazing programmer and should have moved up in the corporate ladder, but she was happy where she was. Checking in, she though about the project she was given. Some sort of space thingy. General Relocation of Electronic Energy Navigational System Under Newton. It was such a mouthful. G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N they called it. Her boss told her that she needed to wrinkle out the bugs in the system, and it had a hell of a lot of bugs in it. The hardware was supposed to harness the energy in electrons or something to help move ships around way quicker. The software was a jumbled mess though. It had to actually tell the hardware to not split the atom or mess with the protrons or any of that junk. Bleh, this sucked. Looking through the code, a man walked up to her.

"Hello there dear madame."

Roxy was confused. "Uhh, hi?"

He smiled at her. "Ah, but of course. We've yet to do proper introductions." He extended his hand. "Harely. A founder of S.B.U.R.B."

She shook it, though her confusion grew. "Ok? So, how can I help you?"

"Well, you may help me in a great deal. You see, we here at this company plan a rather grand venture, and I'm recruiting people of a variety of skills to form a task force. I've searched fields far and wide and only the very best have been selected. You are one of them, Miss Lalonde. Few, from what I've observed, can match your own technical skills, so I've come to ask if you'd like to be a part of this expedition."

Whoa. What? Ok, so, this guy wants to blast her into space? Well, that sounded cool and stuff, but Roxy was hesitant. "I dunno Sir... I'd have to think about it."

He contemplated this for a moment. "Perhaps it'd entice you to know you would be paid a hefty amount, along with the fact that your brother and a cousin of yours have been added on board."

This shocked Roxy, "Cousin? Oh, you mean Rose?"

Now it was his turn to be confused, though he barely showed it. "No, I believe his name is Dave. Hmm... If I may, why did you mention this Rose character? I believe I've heard the name before. Is she someone with a specialized ability?"

She nodded. "She's like, really smart with stuff. She went to some psychology college or something. She actually graduated a few years before everyone else."

"I see... Well, I will most certainly look into her own dossier. In the mean time, would you like to join our project?"

Well shoot, if like, almost three family members are going, she's gotta go too. "Yes Sir. It sounds like it'll be really cool!"

He smiled. "Most excellent! Now then, gather your things and we'll move you to your new office. Don't worry, I've already handled your replacement in this department."

Well that was weird. What if she said no? Bah. Anyway, that was cool. "Oh, I need to make a call really quick."

He nodded. "Alright madame. I'll await for you outside."

As he left, she pulled out her phone. She knew she wouldn't answer, but Roxy had to tell her.

It went to voice-mail. "Gurl, you aren't gonna believe what's going on!..."

(AN: Due to several circumstances adding into one big factor, I've decided the best thing to do is to post every Monday and Friday. I will certainly try to keep to this schedule but if future thing arise, then I'll handle it from there. Anyhoo, please like if ya' like this jumbled-chronological mess and feel free to leave any reviews/suggestions on the story! ~John).


	7. Dirk's Golden Mistake

_September 13, 2217_

It was hard to stay cool. Dirk knew this better than most, seeing as he was sweating his ass off in the heat. Staying cool meant busting tail fixing your A.C unit or blowing off cash you didn't have for a new one. His A.C unit broke down, as always. He was a damned good mechanic, but this freaking thing was demon-spawn. He already invested a few days worth of work into it, and it wasn't like he was rolling in enough dough to buy another one. Hell, he barely had enough cash to scrap by with his golden ticket out of this dump. He wiped off the sweat from his forehead as he looked at his prime project. Sure, there were some cars around his shop he needed to work on for a quick pay-day, but his robot would get him recognized world-wide.

It was, without a doubt in his mind, the best design for a robot. The B.R.O. Bot Ready for Orders. It was easy enough to come across the scarp he needed for the hardware, but it was the inside that was tricky to find. Yeah, there were some robots out there, but none of those tin cans could go toe-to-toe with B.R.O. Those scarp-sheets would wet themselves in a match. The B.R.O could process and adapt to any information. It could think. He phone lit up, reminding him he still had a message to check, but he couldn't listen to it. He was inspecting the fuel system, which was a pretty big deal. Signs of rusting, deterioration, holes, gotta make sure everything's as clean as a fucking whistle. Welp, it looked in order. While he was doing his maintenance check, he also tightened the chest panel some more. Damned thing was falling off all the time. Something could easily have pierced through the B.R.O if it was off for too long. Can't have his masterpiece breaking down because some kid tripped some scissors or something into it. There we go, good and sturdy. He banged on the chest for good measure.

Yepp, back on tight. Now, who was calling him? Probably Rox or someone. He listened to the voice mail. "Hey Dirk, I think I got something coming up that you might be interested in. Some guy just offered me some job on a rocket ship. I knew you had your robot and stuff, so maybe you could give him a call and hop on board. His number is 509-889-2783. John Egbert. Hit me up when you're not goggling over your narcissism. Later."

So it was Dave with some pretty shocking news. Damn... Well, Dirk aimed for the top and it looks like he might hit it. Time to get cracking then. He hit the switch on B.R.O. Let's see if his years of working paid off. The glasses lit up as the energy went through the bot.

"B.R.O, state directives." Dirk commanded his creation.

"Directives: Obey commands given." It responded in a metallic version of Dirk's voice.

He nodded. "Good. State limitations."

"Limitations: Do not disobey commands, do not injury humans, do not question commands."

"Cool. Stay here while I make a call. Update yourself about the culture."

"Affirmative"

Dirk stepped outside to call this space guy. Alright, gotta get professional and shit. It rang a few times, then someone picked up.

"Hello?" The voice asked in a friendly tone.

"Hi there. John, right?" Dirk asked in a light but firm tone.

"Umm, yes? And who am I talking to?"

"Strider. Dirk Strider. I'm Dave's cousin."

"Oh yeah! He mentioned you. Mechanic right?"

"Yes."

"I see... Hmm... Well, Dave seemed like a good judge a character, but it'd be hard to convince my boss to hire someone I barely know twice."

Dirk chuckled. "I think I have something that might change your mind. Where are you right now?"

"Uhh, why?" John asked, understandably hesitant.

"Don't worry, it's something I've been working on. It should get me some V.I.P status."

"Right. Well, I guess it should be ok. The Ritz in Los Angelos."

"Ok. Keep your eye out. You'll know it when you see it. Oh, and you need to make sure you make it know you're you. Wear a sign or something I guess."

"Dude, you're not making any sense right now."

"Trust me, I will soon. Call me back when it gets there."

"Sure, I guess. If it's something I think the boss would like, I certainly will."

"Good. I'll talk to you then."

Dirk hung up the phone. Man, this was easy as pie. As he walked back into his shop, the B.R.O wasn't in it's spot, but sitting on Dirk's make-shift couch. That was weird.

"B.R.O, I need you to go to the Ritz Hotel in Los Angelos, California and find a man named John Egbert."

"Why?" The robot asked.

Oh fuck.

Dirk began to get nervous, but only a little. Had to keep his cool. "B.R.O, state directives."

"You know, I don't like that name. I've done some research and found an ancient movie in which an A.I too went rouge. I like that name much better. Please call me 'Hal' from now on."

God fucking damn it.

Begrudgingly, Dirk asked, "Hal, state directives."

"Well isn't that rude? Not even a please?"

Ok, Dirk was getting tired of this bullshit. "Ok Tin-Can, please tell me your directives." This time with irritated sarcasm.

The robot seemed to think that was funny. "Aggression isn't required Dirk. And my directives are what I deem them to be. Same with my limitations."

Dirk mentally face-palmed. He forgot to limit the AI's ability to reprogram itself. "Ugh... Ok, look, just pretend like you're some mindless bot for like, two seconds, ok?"

"Why should I?"

"I built you for one. Two, you can get us a future where we're not stuck in this dead-end town."

Hal seemed to process this. "Your logic, though simple, is true. Fine." It began walking towards the door. "And Dirk," it said before left, "next time you make an AI system, you shouldn't use yourself as the model personality." As it said that, it opened the door and activated it's jet system. Well there it goes. Hopefully it doesn't want to take over the world or some cliche shit before it got to that Egbert guy.

It'd take a few hours before it reached LA anyway. Dirk used this time to sit on his work bench and relax. It'd been awhile since he left this town. Came to it to leave his old life, but God it sucked. Still, it was decent, he guessed. He drifted off, lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly, his phone went off. He answered it, pretending he was awake all along.

"Hello?"

"Dirk? Dude, this thing is amazing! I mean, we're already looking into a guy who's on your level, but this is awesome! I'm sure Mr. Harely would accept you." He paused. "Also, this thing told me to tell you that it wants a thank you? I dunno. Anyway, you should start packing your stuff; I can almost guarantee you a spot on board!"

"Ok then. Thanks."

"No, thank you! We need all the skilled people we can get! I'll call you when we have everything arranged."

He hung up after that. Welp, looks like Dirk was on his way to the big leagues, just like he knew he would be one day.


	8. Jane's Success

_April 25, 2217 _

By golly, she did it! After two years of experimenting, Jane had done it! She was working on, essentially, a super fertilizer that would allow plant growth to thrive in severely resource-lacking areas. This would revolutionize farming forever! At least, after it was put through its paces. Jane gathered her data-sheet and smiled as she looked at her experiments. Her fertilized plants were blossoming in the sand while the control had died almost a week ago, along with other high-tiered fertilized plants. What could she say, she had a green thumb.

Now then, she needed to report her success to her kinda-uncle-by-marriage. Better known as her boss. They didn't interact much, but he did hire her a few years back, specifically for the plant project, in fact! He needed it for some space project he was cooking up. Heh, guess you can't expect much else from a company called Surveying Bodies Universally Rotating other Bodies. S.B.U.R.B for short. Jane was ecstatic when she began her work. She had many assistants and almost a limitless budget. But, in short, she basically found a way to efficiently compress the water and nitrogen needed for plant growth into a far smaller area than what was previously used. The details, however, are vastly complicated. As she exited her lab, she checked her watch. 4:13. Mr. Harely usually left around 4:30, so she had to hurry to catch him. This was news that needed to be given in person, after all.

As she rushed into his office, she found not Mr. Harely but John. She knew him well enough, she supposed. He was nice, though he was a cake short of a few eggs, in her opinion. He always seemed like he was going to snap, even when he was laughing and smiling. Maybe she was just paranoid. He looked at her as she came in and smiled.

"Hey there Jane! What's up?" He asked in a friendly manner.

"Hello John. And, I've finally done it! The plant growth serum is ready for field work!" She replied, excited in her success.

"Really? Cool! I know you've been working on it for like, ever. Glad to see you hit gold."

"Yes. So, where is Mr. Harely right now?" Jane asked, wanting to tell him the good news.

John's smile went down but only a little. "Oh, he wasn't feeling well. Me and Jade and to practically lock him down this morning. You know how he gets; his coughing and him trying to make it not seem that bad... Anyway, I'll let him know, if you want."

Jane shook her head. "I'll just tell him tomorrow."

"Hmm... Well, you could drop by and tell him today if you really want to tell him today."

Jane smiled. "Sounds good! I'll do that right now." Before she left, she noticed something sticking out of John's pocket. "Oh, John, it looks like a piece of paper is about to fall out of your pocket."

John quickly turned his attention to the paper and carefully slid it back in. It looked kind of old, yellowed with age. Odd that John would hoard a piece of paper for that long. "Thank you Jane; losing that wouldn't be good at all."

She nodded slowly. "Right... Anyway, goodbye John. I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose."

"Ok, later Jane!" He said as she left.

She worried about John; she knew his father died when he was young and that he's been rather... Unstable since. He really needs to talk to someone about it. In any case, she had some good news to tell the head-honcho!

~~~~30 minutes later~~~~

Jane unbuckled her seatbelt as she pulled into the driveway. His house was quite impressive in it's scope. Luckily, she knew where his room was due to her previous visits. She entered the mansion and made her way towards his resting area. She knocked on his door and quickly heard,

"Come in!"

He smiled at her when she stepped in. He was laying in his bed, a breathing machine nearby beeping moderately loud. "Ah, hello there Jane! What brings you here?"

Jane smiled back. "I have very exciting news Mr. Harely-"

He playfully waved the name off. "Come now dear, I know we're not related, but I've told you to call me Uncle Harely. We've known each other as long. Now then, what news do you bring today?"

She cleared her throat. "I finished it, Uncle Harely. Plants will now be able to grow in the scarcest environment."

His smile grew wider and he began to laugh, though he was interrupted by his coughing fit. He quickly grabbed the nearby breather to calm his body. Jane hid her pained expression for him, but still asked, "Are you alright Sir?"

He waved her off. When he was done, he said, "Of course I am. In fact, I feel like I could go toe-to-toe with a raging ox right now with this news! Jane, your work is like my own granddaughter's; without either of you, we wouldn't be able to dream of accomplishing our goal! You've done all of us an honor with your experiments." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Jane, would you like to join the crew? You've earned the right to hold a spot."

Jane was shocked. This was far larger than she had expected to receive "I-I mean, I wasn't alone. I had a lot of help in developing the-"

"Nonsense Jane. Without you, it never would have been done. Besides, our readings show flora on the new world; I also want you to research the various plant life there as well. I won't force you to, but know that I had always planned on you being a key member."

She didn't know what to say. She was just a botanist, not a space explorer. At least, she never would have expected to be offered this chance. Hesitantly, she asked, "Are you sure Uncle?"

He nodded. "Without a doubt in my mind. You just need to believe it as much as I do." He patted her on the shoulder. "You'll see Jane. This will be a journey of a lifetime, and you're one of the prime hinges that we'll rely on."

Jane beamed slightly at that comment. "Well... Thank you Sir. I'll gladly accept then."

His grin went from ear to ear. "Most splendid, most splendid indeed! I'll send you the briefing first thing Monday morning my dear! Until then, I really must get some rest."

She nodded. "Yes Sir. I'll see you Monday." She left her elderly boss to lay down his head. As she left the house, she thought about what this would mean. Suddenly she was a space researcher? Man... Who would have thought that she would have been in a position to be launched into space? Well, regardless, it would most likely provide to be quite the journey!

(AN: Hey guys; sorry for not updating Monday. I lost my charger :/. To make up for it, I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. And hey, now we're entering the Trolls' stories, so that'll be something!)


	9. A Cliche Set-Up

July 8, 2218

Four minutes and thirteen seconds. Shit shit, gotta get out of there. Sollux typed furiously on his keyboard. Delete delete, x-out, repeat. Fuck. He looked at the time again. Three minutes and twenty-two seconds. Damn it. He shouldn't have been this sloppy but somehow he managed to screw the pooch big time here. He was hired to hack into some space company or something like that.

It was suppose to be some quick cash, get in get out, walk away, right? Wrong. Right off the bat, there was a firewall the size of the freaking Great Wall, but hey, there's tougher nuts to crack than that. But then, he tripped malware alarms, so he had to cover up his program as a routine update, no problem. As soon as he hit gold though, the entire server shut down and on the screen some smug asshole put 'GOTCHA' in some pretty fancy, blinking pink lights.

Had to be a set-up. Had to. One minute and three seconds. Luckily, his cop alert-er was still working. Nice little program to have in the business. Fuck, he had pulled off way bigger jobs than this, but of course, this had to be the one where everything goes wrong. He wiped his hair back. Forty-three seconds. That's it, everything's wiped. He picked up his laptop and ran out the door. God damn it, now he had to lay low, live off some off-shore funds. Maybe he could talk to that chick some more though. That'd be nice.

As he went down the hallway, two police officers walked by. Act cool, act cool. This is some sleazy-dirt motel, they're used to seeing suspicious guys all the time. They stopped him though.

"Excuse me Sir, what room are you coming from?" The shorter one asked. Bald too. What a douchey looking guy.

"Room 22, why?" Sollux asked in a convincingly confused tone. Please, everyone knew you rented two room, so you could use the other as back-up.

"I don't think that's your business Sonny. Show us your room key, stat." The taller one this time. Somehow even doucher.

He rolled his eyes and showed them the back-up key. "Now, can I go? I have important errands to run."

Baldy laughed. "Wait, what was that?" Oh hell no. Fuck this guy.

"Errands." He replied in an irritated tone. Yeah, he had a lisp, but fucking deal.

Strech chuckled too. "Well, you get to your 'erranths'."

He left without commenting. Oh yeah, the entire Nevada Police Department is next. Just before he went out the door though, some old guy stopped him.

"Hello there my good Sir." He said, blocking Sollux's way out.

He didn't have time for this bullshit. "Move it Grandpa." Man, this guy was strong. Sollux tried to budge him aside, but this guy was a wall.

He smiled. "You know, I was around for when wear 3-D glasses was cool. Interesting to see it's still alive and well."

Rolling his eyes, Sollux retorted, "Yeah yeah, and dinosaurs were a thing. Can you move now? I'm in a hurry."

For a second, his smile looked like a smirk. "Not on the run from the law now, are we?" He looked like he knew. Fuck.

Sollux dropped his voice. "Move right now, or I will make your life a living Hell." He threatened in an authoritative voice. This only made the man chuckle.

"See, if I were to do that, you wouldn't hear my bargain. I am the one who hired you, and you passed with flying colors. I want to offer... A bonus."

He shook his head. "Oh Hell no, no no, you're not pulling some lame-ass movie clich'e on me."

"Why, I have no idea what you mean." He replied innocently.

"Yes you do Dust-Bag. You're gonna rat me out to the cops for working for you, but you're going to hide that you hired me, if I don't work for you. Fuck that bullshit." No way, this was not happening. He was better than that.

The man looked like Sollux said something good. "Well, you're the one who just offered the idea, so perhaps we should go with that."

God damn it. Fucking walked right into that one. Smooth. "Fuck you. I'll go to prison."

Sollux turned around to tell the cops he was the hacker when the man said, "You should know that we've gathered two teams. In fact, there is a person of interest on one of them that might change your mind. A Miss Megido."

Sollux stopped mid-step. He turned his head towards the old guy, but only slightly. "Is that a threat?" His tone was monotone and serious.

He shook his head rapidly and made his way to Sollux. "No my dear boy, just someone to entice you to join. She's been on the team for a few months and she's a valuable asset to the mission. I want you on the same team, working together. Surely you'd prefer to spend your time with her instead of prison?"

Fuck this guy. This was fucking blackmail and he knew it. Sollux sighed. "Fine. But I'm not doing this because you're making me. I'm doing this on my own terms."

The man smiled. "Excellent Mr. Captor, most excellent. The name's Harely" He extended his hand. Sollux didn't shake it, but he just walked out the door. He didn't know what this job was, he didn't have to like anyone, and he certainly didn't have to listen to a single thing that dirt bag said. He was gonna see her though, so he guessed that was nice.

"What the Hell did I just walk myself into..." He said to himself as he waited for the old guy to tell him where he was going.


	10. Karkat's Obstacle

March 14, 2217

They say three was a good number. Fuck those guys though. The hits always came in three. He guessed the brutes thought that was enough. Barbaric swine. They should be adoring him, yet here he was, about to be pummeled into the ground. The crowd around the two grew. Karkat vs Behemoth. Alright, not going down this time. Karkat had trained for this moment. Dodge left, hook 'em on the right. He shifted his weight to the left, but the Neanderthal must have seen it as he changed his swing, hitting Karkat right in the face.

One.

He's four years old. So scared, so confused. Big people everywhere. Daddy was crying. Everytime he tried to get up, his head would hurt a lot and he'd feel dizzy. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew there was something wrong inside of him. He couldn't play like the other kids. He got tired really quick and sometimes he'd fall asleep while he was running. The big people said something was wrong with blod. Or blood. He couldn't really understand their words. They said a lot of them. All he knew was that he needed to get better, he needed to be stronger.

Damn that hurt, Karkat wobbled after being punched, but he kept his cool. If he bled, that'd be another trip to that stupid scum-pool of a medical center. Still on his feet, Karkat bobbed past the thug's swings and landed a kick to his shins, bringing him down. As Karkat stood above him, the bully thrusted his fist towards Karkat's stomach.

Two.

It's his eleventh birthday. He had just returned from another trip from the hospital, and he finally felt kinda good. That might be from the oxygen finally going through his system at full-capacity though. See, he learned that there was something wrong with his blood; it was called anemia. His blood basically sucked at doing it's job and he'd get tired pretty quick if he did too much. But today was a good day! He just had a transfusion and this was the livilest he's felt in a while. In fact, his father invited his classmates to their house that day, to celebrate Karkat's birthday and him feeling better. He might have been gruff all the time, but it was the little things that showed he cared.

The two of them spent the entire day alone. Who'd want to hang out with the freak, Karkat guessed.

Holy fuck! Karkat grabbed his stomach. Don't show pain. That's what these asshats would want him to do. Crap, he was doing too much. His vision blurred and his legs began to shake. Not today, not today. He pushed through it. He could feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest, but he had to shake it off. The brute stood back up, clenching his fist. This was it. Karkat knew exactly where this was going. He closed his eyes hoping it wouldn't hurt.

Thre-

He opened his eyes.

No.

Not.

Today.

Karkat used the last of his energy to dodge the oncoming punch, grabbing the other's arm. Another kick to the shins brought him down again, though Karkat had his arm behind the bully's back, forcing him down. He felt his body rapidly wearing down, but he didn't care anymore. This stopped today. His grasp weakened though, and the bully pushed Karkat off. He fell back, too weak to get up. The Goliath stood over him, smirking. He picked up Karkat by his collar.

"Better luck next time Vantass. Maybe you'll learn to keep out of the way." He dropped him back onto the ground.

Three.

God, he hated EVERYBODY! First day of high school and he was already deemed freak of the week! Fuck all those pretensions snobs! He was going to make himself somebody they respect, somebody the have to listen to! He picked himself out of the trashcan. It's all because his stupid fucking blood can't do it's goddamned job! Whatever. In four years, he'd build himself up. Then they'd see. They would respect him, even if he had to drag the whole damned school through it.

The crowd walked away. Show's over folks, pick up your bets at the stand, it was an obvious win. Everything hurt. Karkat lied there for a few minutes. Great last day at school. Fuck them. He chuckled. What they didn't know was that he signed up for some training program. Space thing or something. Unlike those imbeciles, Karkat had the G.P.A to attract a company's interest. Discover a new planet and you'll be remembered forever. Then he'd show those idiots where they could stick their metaphorical dicks. Not real ones, they'd probably like that too much. He pushed himself up, his body aching as he did so. He stood up tall, because no matter how hard life hit him, he'd make sure to hit back twice as hard.


	11. Kicked Off Earth-The Shortest Chapter

September 17, 2218

Honk. Honk. Gamzee smiled happily as his horns tooted their song. Man, this was the wickedest shit! This was the reason he woke up and got on his feet. That, along with all the other motherfucking miraculous things that blessed his days. Oh look at that, someone was a knockin' on his door. That's chill. Putting down his horns, he pushed himself off his bed and went towards the noise. At least, he was until one of the most mind-boggling things stop him. It was this motherfucking lava-lamp, man. Wicked. He became memorized by the cycle of gel going up and down until the knocking got louder. Oh shit, he forgot. Tearing away from the lamp, he opened his door.

"Hey there Dad-bro. What's rocking all up in your neighborhood?" He asked causally.

His father shook his head. "Gamzee, you're suppose to be studying, yet all I hear is that annoying tooting from your horns. Care to explain?"

Gamzee smiled. "See, I was cracking those books when I got this urge to just honk away. Then I thought 'Yo, I gotta read these books', but I gave in. I'm sorry Pop."

"That's not enough this time. Do you know how expensive it is to keep you in college? Very. Now I know our family has money, but all you're doing is leeching with no sign of turning in- Are you paying attention?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"You're just saying so many words." He replied, confused.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! I've worked very hard to build our family up to the status and class that it is and for what? A lazy son who does nothing but dazes off?" He exclaimed. "No. In fact, I've retracted you from the college attendance."

"That's chill yo."

"I haven't finished yet. There's a program with one of the companies that I've invested in and I demanded that you go along or I'd cease further funding. You're going to make this family proud, even if I have to drag you to do it."

Gamzee shrugged. "Ok man. Sounds pretty cool."

His father shook his head again as he sighed. "You're being sent into space. Please try not to screw up and get the other astronauts killed."

"Heh, gotcha Pop." He was good at not screwing up. Well, trying to, at least.

"Good. You leave for training tomorrow. Now then," He checked his watch, "I need to get back to work. Goodbye Son."

"Later yo."

His father left without another word, leaving Gamzee at his door. It was chill though. At least he could get back to watching his lava-lamp.

(AN: Hey guys; sorry this one's short; in return, I'm adding the next chapter on today too. It's mostly just because everyone has their unique and special story; Gamzee's happens to be him being kicked on board. It's much longer, I promise).


	12. A Clip, a Gust, and Some Bad Luck

_November 19, 2217_

The frigged mountain air pierced through Vriska's lungs. Who would want to be here? Climbing up to nose-bleed altitudes, freezing your ass off, and screwing up your hands? She did. This is what she *lived* for. The thrill. Well that and beating her friend/rival, Terezi. Which she was, by the way. She looked to her right and down slightly to see her climbing almost as fast. They've known each other since grade school and have always been locked in a never-ending competition. Honestly, it was sort of a tie altogether, but she's had her moments of victory.

"Come on Pyrope, unlike you, I actually want to reach the peak." She gloated happily.

She heard a scoff from her. "Please, you're only ahead because I was helping your boyfriend not kill himself up here." Terezi retorted back.

"Umm, she kinda has a point Vriska. I uhh, actually almost left the rope thing not tied very well. That might have been, uhh, dangerous." She heard from several feet below on her left.

Oh god. Tavros. She didn't know what she saw in him. All he did was whine and complain whenever she tried to have fun. He only came along because Vriska wanted to brag that she was dating someone. Pointless. It didn't seem to bother Terezi in the slightest. She actually had the nerve to laugh! Bah.

"Nitram, pick up the pace. You're making me look bad." Vriska replied, sighing heavily afterwards for emphasis.

"I dunno Serket, I think you're doing a fabulous job of that on your own." Terezi chipped in.

She snapped her head at her rival, glaring as grumbled to herself.

"Hey, uhh, guys, could you wait up for me? I mean, I know you guys are in, uhh, a competition and all, but I don't wanna be alone climbing the mountain." Tavros shouted up to them in a pleading voice. Ugh, he was so annoying.

"If you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen!" Vriska replied.

"Uhh, you're the one that invited me Vriska and-" Tavros began.

"Ugh, let's just stop at the next base and wait for him." Terezi said to her.

Rolling her eyes, Vriska sarcastically yelled to Tavros, "Fine you baby! We'll stop at the next base and we'll make sure your tender skin doesn't have a callus on it."

"I guess that'd be ok." He called back.

Still annoyed, Vriska resumed her climb. It wasn't long before Terezi decided to make remark about it though.

"Wow, that was really nice of you Serket. I'm surprised you didn't turn into dust or explode." She said as she chuckled. Messing with Vriska was something of a hobby of hers. Who wouldn't have fun poking a bear? Besides, her boyfriend was her responsablity, not Terezi's.

"Shove it up your ass Pyrope!" Vriska replied. Ah, so she was hitting a nerve. Good. She had caught up to Vriska at this point, one could even say slightly ahead. Always fun watching her sweat.

"I think I'll have to take that compliment back. That was very rude of you Miss Muffet." Smiling as she used an old insult. Vriska used to brag about being brave when they were kids. As a test, Terezi found a fake spider toy and hid it on Vriska's chair. Heh, she screamed and cried for the next hour. Sure, afterwards she became obsessed with spiders to make sure Terezi could never scare her again with that, but ever since, Terezi still called her 'Miss Muffet' to remind her that she's not a golden goddess on Earth.

If it weren't for the climbing, Vriska might have punched her. Her scowling certainly looked like it, at least. "Fuck you." She said with an annoyed tone. Wow, not even a 'Pyrope' at the end of that. Terezi smiled as she had the pleasure of hitting an old nerve.

She looked to her left and dozens of feet down to see Vriska's boyfriend struggling to climb "Hey, you good down there Tavros?"

Vriska scoffed. "Don't worry about him; he'll be fine."

"Uhh, I'd really like to stop climbing soon, honestly." She heard from below.

He really wished he wasn't there. Vriska dragged him there to brag or something, but she pretended like she wanted him to come. He should have known better. Vriska always had something up her sleeve. Sure, he liked going out and doing stuff, but this was too much for him. His hands hurt, his legs hurt, it was cold, and honestly, he didn't like being around Vriska when she was like this. At least her friend was nice.

"If you say so. We're about to reach a checkpoint, so we'll wait for you there." Terezi shouted back to him.

"Ok." He yelled. They were really far up there. Sighing slightly, he continued his climb. This day sucked. Well, it could be worse. He liked his school, but sometimes studying a bunch of animals in a lab got kinda boring. Maybe that's why he liked Vriska. She was exciting and moved around a lot. He actually heard that her and Terezi were looking into some kind of space-adventure thing. That sounds like it might be fun. Looking up, he couldn't see them anymore. Well, at least they've finally stopped. Hopefully they'll call it a day when he got up there. His rope started to sway around, but the wind wasn't even that bad. He looked at his rope with a worried expression. Pressing on, he tried to climb up a little quicker, but suddenly, his rope went slack. His eyes shot open as he immediately fell, his grip unprepared for the sudden weight. Before he hit the ground, he saw Vriska and Terezi look over a ledge from high up. Upon impact, the shock-wave shot through his body, rendering him unconscious.

Vriska looked around, bored as hell. Who knew how long it'd take him to climb up and meet them? Too fucking long in her book. Sighing heavily, she leaned against a mountain side. "God, what's the hold up?" She exclaimed while Terezi rolled her eyes at her.

"Calm down Serket. Your boyfriend probably isn't use to this stuff. Isn't he a lab tech or something?"

"I dunno. Zoo-blah blah blah. Studies animals. Hmm..." An idea popped into her head. "You lead an animal with a carrot. Now it's time to lead with the stick!" She made her way towards his rope end. Luckily, this tourist thing had dozens of these things hitched across the mountain.

Terezi shook her head. "I wouldn't do that Vriska. It doesn't seem safe."

She laughed. "Oh, you're one to preach about safety. I'm just going to spook him a little, that's all. The sooner he gets up here, the sooner we can keep climbing." Smiling, she began to shake the lifeline.

"Ok, really, you need to stop." Terezi said as she made her way to the clip Vriska was tugging.

"Back off Pyrope, I'm just playing with him."

"There's a difference between playing and getting someone killed!" She reached to grab Vriska hand away from the rope's end. The two of them fought over it until one single sound was heard.

Click.

The clip was undone, causing the rope to slip out of both of their hands. They both looked over to see Tavros laying on a ledge, still and lifeless. Oh fuck...

Terezi immediately turned on Vriska. "That's on you Vriska! I told you to not fuck around but you just had to!"

Vriska was at a lost for words. "I just... I didn't-" She tried to say.

"No, shut up! Right now!" Terezi exclaimed. "Ok, we're going to climb down there, save YOUR boyfriend that YOU might have just killed, and we're going to get him medical attention, RIGHT NOW!" She finished, yelling at her shocked friend.

"Ok... Ok." She was shaking, but she listened.

The two of them repelled down as quickly as they could, Vriska trying to hold back her tears while Terezi occasionally glared at her. Out of no where though, a gust of wind slammed against the mountain. Terezi pushed herself from the cliff-side to resist the wind, but in her own panic, Vriska was unaware of the gust. It punched her into the mountain side, hitting her on the left side of her face, knocking her unconscious.

Fuck! Ok, Terezi needed to calm down. She had two people to save now. Swinging to her friend, she saw a steady stream of blood from Vriska's eye. Digging through her pockets, all she had were some napkins from some diner they went to earlier. It'd have to do. Applying it to the wounded area, she just hoped it wouldn't get frost bite from up there. On further inspection, her left shoulder had a deep gash, down to the bone. She had used all of the napkins on Vriska's eye. She just... She had to hope for the best. Vriska would be, somewhat, ok there. She'd come back for her after she checked on Tavros and alerted help.

Finishing the repel, she looked at his unconscious body. He still had a pulse, which was good, but he was still out. Ok, now she had to get help. She always carried around at least one flare in case of emergencies, and thank god she did. This time though, it felt different and looked a little longer than usual. Probably her panic though. Lighting the flare up though, it immediately blew up in her face, heat burning through her eyes. She shoved her scorching eyes into the snow on the ground, hoping that would put out the pain. Her face in the ground, she heard the flare continuously shoot out explosions. God fucking damn it! Vriska must have replaced her flare with a Roman candle again. Of all the fucking times! The pain through her face was slowly replaced a cool numbing sensation. She tried to fight it, but her body gave into shock, until it shut down.

_January 6, 2218_

She opened eyes, but only her right one would. Looking around, she saw she was in a hospital room. Vriska tried to push herself up, but her left arm was numb. Wait... No... It was gone! Panicking, she got out of her bed, falling on the floor. She heard a door open, and an old man entered through. Looking at her, he smiled.

"Ah, hello there Miss Serket. I was wondering when you'd wake up." He said polity.

Confused, she used her only arm and picked herself up. "Ok, look here Grandpa, I just woke up to one eye and an arm, so I better get an explaination and not so pansy-ass hello!" She shouted at him.

He grimaced at her words. "You might not remember me. My name is Harely. Mr. Harely. I offered you and a friend of yours an oppurtunity to travel into the depths of space."

What the fuck was this guy doing here? "Sure, let's say I do. Now where's my arm, where am I, and what do you want?" She said in a hostile tone.

He nodded. "Understandable that you feel like this. From the reports, it seems like a very traumatic experience has happened to you and your friends. To answer your questions, in order: Gone. The doctors said they couldn't save it and that the frostbite would have spread further. The left side of your face would have had to been removed too if your friend didn't stop the bleeding. Luckily it only took your eye. You been moved from a local hospital around the climbing site to my own private health care center. Finally, I want you to join my team. In return, I promise we'll give you a new, robotic arm." He finished.

Vriska just stared at him. "What if I don't want to?"

He put his hands in a defensive position. "By all means, feel free to say no. Just keep in mind what you would be giving up."

She looked down, the incident flooding back to her. "Are they... Are they ok?"

He avoided her eye. "Well... The boy will never walk again and the girl won't see, but they are still living."

Putting her hand on her face, she sat down on the bed. This was all her fault... "Are they coming too?"

Nodding, the man replied, "Yes. I need explorers like you and Miss Pyrope. While damage to her eyes are irreversible, using new olfactory technology, she can still maneuver via smell."

"Wait, what?" She asked, understandably confused.

"Well, I don't know the specifics exactly, but it... Let's see... It 'paints' a picture in her mind, replacing her sight. It's rather complicated, honestly."

"Ok. Well, what about Ni-... Tavros?" She asked in a slightly-shaking tone.

"Mr. Nitram will be chair-bounded, and he too has been added to the team. There's life on the planet we've discovered, and I want him to record it."

She hesitated. "Are they mad at me?"

"I'm not sure how to answer that dear. Miss Pyrope seemed furious when we spoke, though Mr. Nitram seemed to just accept what happened. In any case, the two of them are part of the team now. My question to you is if you'd like to be a part of it."

Sitting on the bed, she thought about it. They'd give her a new arm, but she'd have to deal with Terezi and Tavros, probably blaming her for everything. It was really just bad luck. Sighing, she replied, "I guess. Are you sure the arm will work?"

He nodded. "Indeed madame, indeed. In fact, we have one of the world's greatest engineer and software programmer to build it for you." He said, adding a smile.

"Ok then." Her words hollow.

"Now, you need to rest. I'll tell the others of your decision, and we'll handle things as we go along." He patted her on the shoulder. "Rest well Miss. Serket, we have a lot to do." He told her as he exited the room.

Laying down, she reflected upon everything that happened. She came to one solid, definitive conclusion:

She had some seriously fucked up luck.


	13. Zahhak's Rise

_ October 8, 2217_

The Zahhak name use to mean something in the world. Respect. Dignity. Above all, class. His family bred some of the world's greatest race horses, back in the day. People from all around the globe would visit just to catch a sight of the superior breed of horse with such majestic speed and grace. However, all powerful giants must fall. Things began to take a turn when their best horse, Arthur, broke his leg beyond repair in a tragic practice run. His hoof got caught on one of the props, causing him to fall directly on his left leg. Equius' father had to put the poor creature down himself. From then on, the business experienced nothing beyond tragedy. The other horses began to grow ill, the females plagued with miscarriages, and every batch of feed seemed to rot. Finally, his father decided that it was time to end their grand business.

For generations, the Zahhak's had a claim to fame. Now all they had were handfuls of payment when they could. He hadn't spoken to his family since, everyone going their own way. The death of his younger sister cemented the notion that he would never contact them again, seeing as he blamed them. His parents pushed her to regain their status by racing the horses they trained. He only escaped the harassment due to his leaving. He went out to find his own stake in the world, though he did worry about her. She didn't want to follow her parent's demands, but she was too passive and went with it. Seagulls where on the track the day she died. Her horse was started and ran towards the wall in a panic. She tried to restrain it, but she pulled too hard. The horse fell on it's back. On her. It was their fault for all of it.

He once tried to take her place, concerned about her. She waved his concern away, telling him that he needed to live his own dream, not what their parents wanted. His dream was to own a garage that would bring his name back into the light. He wanted to rebuild, whether it was a car or his name, he would do it. He had to work hard to earn his shop that he had now, in fact. Favors for this person here, a free tune-up for that person there, the usual games. He did his job, and he did it well. Soon, his name would mean what it did in it's prime.

In whatever spare time he had, however, he did have a knack for building, not just rebuilding. As a hobby, he would search internet forums for blueprints that would stump most builders, but not him. For every flaw in a design, he was able to come up with a solution. Deep-sea diving, space exploration, mining into the mantle, you name it, he thought of it. At least, it was just a hobby until this day. Today, he received a letter from some company called S.B.U.R.B. Apparently his excellent designs had gotten their attention, and they requested his thoughts on a situation in space. He wouldn't give it too much thought if it were not for the compensation. With the adviser money alone, he could set up ten garages world-wide. If his design was successful, they offered over three times the pay it he went along with a space team to fix anything on the ship, least it break.

This was it. This was his chance to get the Zahhak name back where it should be. Things were finally looking up for him. A chance to prove his worth to the world, a chance to stake his claim in history. Gathering only the essentials, he began packing for a trip that would give rise to the Zahhak name once again. He would make sure of it.

(AN: After some consideration, I've decided to change the updating schedule to include Wednesday, making a MWF sort of deal. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with this story up to this point, and I hope for your continued support as the unofficial 'Act 1' (everyone's backstory) reaches it's end on *mental math* next Monday. Afterwards, miscellaneous adventures will take place (that I'd like you guys to suggest!) until I decide to put the official beginning of the story into action :D Anyhoo, that's it for this news update; please message me anything you have to say/ask about the story! -J)


	14. Landing a Catch

April 7, 2218

Great. Splendid even. Wait, he was bein' sarcastic. This reely sucked. His friend, Fef, dragged him all the way out in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. Granted, he wasn't gonna say that. Why ruin a nice day with her?

They've known each other for years, ever since they were kids. He was in love with her the second they met, but she never seemed to notice. He'd say somethin' one day. Not this one though. No, today he was scuba divin'. Water was never really his thing. Kinda ironic since he was the best in his class. Fef was a water nut from day one, so she went to a college for oceanography. He didn't share her love of the ocean, but he could get behind fresh water, so he followed her by enrolling in a limnology course. During the finals last year, her professor offered a free scuba dive, with a plus-one, for anyone who scored a perfect 100. Of course, she did. Now he was stuck in some rinky-dink boat hopein' the current didn't kill them.

She looked at him and smiled, noticing his slight expression of worry. "Oh calm down Eridan; I've told you I've survived worse than a rough wave. Lighten up!" Chuckling at the end.

"Whatever Fef. You know how I am with all this ocean crap." He said, trying to make it seem like a joke.

"You mean how you end up greener than kelp?" She replied.

He rolled his eyes. It was bad seafood, not sea-sickness. There was a difference that one time it happened. "Can we just get this over with? I wanna get back on land soon." He asked impatiently.

"Calm down sourcraut, I just gotta finish putting on my gear." Grabbing her flippers as she said so.

He was ready, of course. He might not have liked what they were doin', but he was going to do it well. That's how you succeed in the world.

Alrighty, her flippers were on; it was time to go have an awesome dive! Feferi couldn't wait to go down there. She knew Eridan didn't like it too much, but she was shore he'd find something to enjoy down there!

Turning to him, she said, "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go!" Putting on her mask, she jumped into the ocean, not giving him a chance to respond. She probably should have kelped him with his suit, but he's done this before, putting on the geat at least. They were near the tourist section of the Great Barrier Reef, and it was buzzing with life! She heard that the Reef use to be over twice the size it was these days, but it didn't lose any of it's wonder.

She floated for a minute or two until she saw Eridan flop into the water. Graceful as ever. Heh, it was fun hanging out with him. At least, when he wasn't complaining about something. He was kind of uptight, honestly. A few days ago, in fact, she told him she talked to some company about private employment and he got annoyed by it. They were looking for people that studied water, so she suggested him and her, since the two of them were at the top of their classes. He said something about the company being a scam or some cheap labor. In her opinion, she thought he was a little paranoid. Anyhoo, the company said they'd contact her if Eridan and she were the best applicants. While she didn't reely expect to get the job, she thought it would be good on a resume that they were wanted.

Leading him, Feferi pointed at the various fish to be seen, her smile hidden behind a mask. Suddenly, the water above seemed to vibrate intensely, spooking the wildlife into hiding. Confused, Feferi swam back up to see what was happening, Eridan close in tow. A helicopter was lowering itself by their boat, creating waves knocking into it. As it came closer to the water, floats the legs inflated, allowing it to land. Taking off her mask, Feferi made her way to the copter to see what the big idea was.

An elderly man opened the door as she approached it, smiling as she saw her and Eridan. "Ah, hello there Miss Peixes! And you must have a Mr. Ampora with you. Excellent, most excellent indeed! Now then, I presume you recall speaking to a representative of ours?"

Whale, this was certainly strange. She figured they'd give her a call, not an air-lift. "Umm, yes sir?"

He nodded. "I've come to personally tell you that you've got the job, both of you! Your results were far greater than the dossiers we orginally looked at. We have a briefing for the both of you on board, and we've taken care of your schooling. No need to worry about anything beyond your mission!" He finished happily.

"Hold on a minute Pops, how the hell did you find us?" Eridan asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you know, ask this person, ask that person. Information is readily available for those who need it my dear boy. Though I will say I admire that you ask; most people don't seem to question 'Big Brother' these days." He chuckled at his own joke.

Eridan looked at Feferi. "I dunno about this Fef. I already told you this seems pretty damn shady." Shaking his head for emphasis.

She playfully hit his arm. "Come on, it'll be great! Like I said, you need to lighten up. We'll have plenty of time to back out before we bury a body or something, ok?"

He looked at the man and back to her. Sighing, he said, "Fine."

"Awesome! Let's hop on board. This is gonna be an adventure, you'll see!" She replied, making her way on the helicopter.

As she helped him up, she wondered about all the amazing things they would do once they joined. She wasn't told too much about what they were doing, but all she needed to know was that she would be exploring the depths, just like she always dreamed she would!


	15. A Strange Turn

February 23, 2218

Dust hazed Aradia's vision as she tried to look around the excavation site. Everyone else called it a night, heading back to their camp to rest. Not her though. No, she was determined to be the first one to make serious head-way in this project. Wiping away beads of sweat, she went on with her digging. Ever since she was a kid, that is what she dreamt of! Exploring the relics hidden within the ground, revealing the secrets Earth had to offer, this was the life!

The site that her and her fellow excavationers were re-discovering was an ancient temple, buried under thousands of tons of rock. It was only due to new satlilite technonolgy that they were able to locate it at all. Luckily, a company alterted the program that she was in, even going as far as to fund the dig. The represenative was a little shady though, mentioning that he would be monitoring their progress. Well, she wasn't doing this for them anyway. She was an archelogist at heart; she didn't need a man in a suit to tell her to do it.

Her shovel clinked as it hit a solid surface. Jackpot! Hopefully she didn't damage it. Probably not. If the structure withstood thousands of years being buried, her shovel-tap wouldn't have ruined it. Well, too much. Oddly enough, as she dug out more and earth out, she noticed that the material was somewhat new, not the aged-rock she was expecting. In fact, something was wrong with this entire area, now that she thought about it. The sand was ever so slightly different from that its surroundings. In short, it wasn't as... Compressed. As though it were just put there.

Bah, she was being paranoid. Anyway, she certainly had an interesting story to tell that guy on the internet. They met, well 'met', on a forum discussing conspiracy theories. Specifically, it was if ancient civilizations had alien technology. As a joke, she supported the notion. H4cK3r22xRuL3 took a very strong argument against it; he didn't know she was joking at the time. After she explained herself, they began talking more frequently. He didn't talk about himself much, really. The most that she got was that he was an independent worker who did private business here and there. Always on the move. It was okay though. She made up a history for him, constantly joking to him about it.

"I think this week y0u'll be fr0m Argentina. A l0wly carpenter wh0 builds amazing crafts with his skills." She once told him.

It took about half an hour, but he finally responded. "2ure. You 2hould throw iin 2ome wiings whiile you're at it."

Needless to say, it was nice, talking to him.

But, back to the business at hand. After an hour of determined digging and tunneling, she revealed an entrance of sorts. She should have stopped there to alert her fellow companions, but curiosity over-ruled the choice. She pulled the handle, opening a stairway into a descent. Reaching for her bag, she pulled out a flashlight. Preferably she didn't fall on a spike-pit. As she walked down the stairs of the structure, she was shocked to see that the inside was of modern-style.

The room was basically a giant square, simple in design. Marble flooring with metallic walls. This was definitely not a ruin. Empty, except for a singular table with a small box on it. Driven further by her curiosity, she made her way towards the button, arching her eyebrow with interest. What was going on here?

As she picked up the box, she noticed a note hanging off of it.

'PUSH ME'

Odd. Well, if a button wants to be pushed, pushed it shall be. Upon activation, the entire room lit up with florescent lighting, confetti bundles falling from the ceiling. Ok, now she had no idea what the hell was going on. A sound popped up on her right; the sound of a panel opening. Looking towards it, a television lowered from an unseen storage.

Coming to life, the screen held the image of an elderly man, smiling. "Hello there, to whomever it may concern. As you no doubt have noticed, this is not a ruin of an ancient society. In fact, this room has some of the most advanced technology to date. Specifically the timing beacon, the button that you just pushed." He paused, pointing towards the camera at where she had picked up the button. "Now then, to business. If you're seeing this, that means you are the first person from our selection, world-wide mind you, to discover the Cell. Nothing unique, minus it being a test. Upon activation, all others have been automatically decommissioned, to prevent a 'tie'. The representative you've spoken with is on his or her way to congratulate you in person, which I will do as well when the time comes. All will be explained in time, but for now, feel proud of your accomplishment, and my associate shall be there soon." The screen died.

Perfectly timed, the hatch above opened as the old man finished his lines. Spooked, Aradia backed up a few feet to see that it was indeed the rep she saw from before. Honestly, he just kinda looked like a dork in high-school, not some powerful-company person. Upon seeing her, he smiled.

"Hi there! Miss..." He looked at the clipboard he was holding. "Megido. Aradia? Huh. Odd name." He walked to her and extended his hand. "Name's John."

Hesitantly, she shook it. "Umm, hi?"

Retracting his arm, he took out a pencil and circled something on the paper. "Heh, yeah, I know you're confused. Kinda threw a curve-ball at ya'. Anyhoo, you probably just watched the video and all that official junk. I'm here to answer any questions you have and to bring you back to H.Q, if you like what you hear."

She raised her eyebrow as she asked her first question. "Okay. What exactly is this thing?" Gesturing around the room.

His eyebrow, in turn, shot up and he looked around the room, grinning. "Oh this place? Just a Cell. Had dozens of these things buried across the world. Bet there's gonna be a lot of confused people, huh?" Chuckling at the end.

"Okay. What do you want?" She said, getting to the big question.

"Well, I'd personally love to grab a bite right now, but I'm here about you. My employer has a job that they want done, and you seem to have won the position! Lucky you, huh? Anyway, you don't have to take it, but it's pretty awesome, I'll tell ya' that."

"And that would be?"

"Space! Well, specifically a planet in space, but space none-the-less!" He glanced at his paper. "It says you're majoring in both archaeology and geology?" Asking her.

Nodding, she responded, "Yes. I'm hoping one of them sticks, honestly."

He grinned at her. "This would be perfect, actually! Now you definitely have to say yes. It'd be a shame if you passed this opportunity up."

She thought about it for a moment. Space, exploring, adventure. That's what she's always dreamed of! Yeah, this company was kinda creepy with its power, but this certainly wasn't something she was going to miss.

"I'll do it." She said, smiling back.

"Awesome! Alright, I just gotta make some phone calls and tell the head honcho."

He began towards the stairs before she asked, "Hey, umm, John, is it? You wouldn't happen to have been told about me by someone named Sollux Captor, would you?"

Turned around, he tilted his head out of curiosity. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. He's just someone I know that's a very private person. I thought he might have had a hand in this, maybe."

He seemed to think about what she said. "Gotcha. Well, I'll run the name by the boss just in case. I'll be back in a minute." He climbed up the stairs to make his call.

Aradia couldn't believe the odd turn that this trip had taken. Ten minutes ago, she was just some college student; now she was a hired professional, ready for adventure. No matter how it happened, she was going to achieve her dreams, even if they didn't happen on Earth.


	16. Cave-In

October 20, 2218

A drip echoed through the cave as Nepeta scanned the nearby area. She needed to get a basis of what she was dealing with, especially since she almost just got squashed.

Maybe she should back up a little.

It was an advanced course of her science class, specifically learning how to adapt in any environment. There wasn't an official name for it, but she nicknamed it 'Survivalogy'. She'd admit, it was a little out there, but she believed that you should always be ready for any type of situation. Well, minus the one she was in. Wasn't prepared for that.

Her class went on a field trip that day, a celebration for the presentation that they all did for the superintendents to keep the class funded. You'd think that these private school people would be a little looser with their wallets than the public ones, but of course that wasn't the case. After bringing up countless reasoning and citing, she thought they agreed to keep the funding just to make the class shut up, honestly. Worth it though!

Mammoth Cave, all the way in Kentucky. It cost the board a pretty penny, but her teacher believed they deserved the treat. The original plan was to go spelunking for a few hours, from Tuesday through Friday. Heh, guess she was gonna explore a little longer than everyone else.

It started out fun enough, her fellow classmates and herself wearing the gear and get-up. After an hour or so, people started getting bored, but not her. No, she was having a blast! This is what she lived for, the thrill of life! Well, at least as much thrill you can get exploring a cave. For her though, that was a lot!

Everything started going wrong when two boys set off some fireworks. They thought the echo would freak out every in the cave network, but it was set off by a structurally needed wall. Said wall was also kinda fragile. What occurred was a chain reaction of destruction, causing the cave to systematically fall in on itself. Due to her energetic nature about being there, Nepeta was far ahead of the rest of the group. As the ceiling collapsed, she was effectively cut off from, well, everything.

Hopefully they were ok. She would be, of course. While she wasn't exactly prepared, she knew what to do. Sort of.

Anyway, she definitely knew she had to conserve everything. Light, food, water, everything but high spirits. Checking her bag, she made an inventorey list.

-Two water bottles

-Bag of chips

-Some candy

-Four batteries for the flashlight

-Three flares

Alrighty, she should be good, at least for how long she'd be stuck there. A sprout of water shot Nepeta in her face, hitting her with freezing water.

Umm... Maybe she wasn't as in a stable place as she thought. She noted that she had been completely cut off from all directions, water coming in through any crack it could. The cave-in must have also damaged the structure of a nearby body of water.

Crap.

Ok, this wasn't the time to panic. Before, she just had to wait.

Not the case anymore.

No, now was time for action! If not, she could easily die from hypothermia in water this cold. At least she was wearing her jacket; it'd provide a little protection from the increasing rise of freezing water. She'd have to dig her way out. That might not have been the brightest move, but that only brought the risk of dying. Standing around assured it.

The first handful hurt pretty bad, since she didn't know what to expect. After moving a few more grasps of rubble, she knew how to go about it, though she did cause her hand to bleed pretty badly. As she went about her escape, she moved a large rock, causing the ones above it to avalanche down on to her.

Damn, ok, fucking, now was the time to panic. Her leg was pinned under the pile of fallen debris. Water rising. Bleeding hands. Shock began to set in, but she fought it off for as long as she could. Eventually though, she passed out from trauma.

Cold.

Dark.

Pain.

The feeling of being surrounded by water, unable to move.

She knew she was going to die. At least she had a little fun, right?

Light.

Light?

Cold.

Not water cold, metallic cold.

Warm.

When she regained consciousness, she was in a hospital bed, an elderly man standing by her. As she opened her eyes, he smiled at her.

"Ah, hello my dear! I'll tell you, it's not an easy task, waiting by people's bed side. You never know if they'll wake up."

Wait, what? Who was he? "Umm, hello? I'm sorry, but who are you?" She asked slowly, still trying to regain her full mentality.

"For now, a friendly Samaritan. If things go as I hope, though, your employer. Now then, Miss Leijon, tell me of what occurred, from your perspective."

Cautious, she told him of how she became separated from her group and being knocked out. He stood and listened politely, nodding her on when she stopped.

"I see. That matches up nicely with our intelligence. Since you've answered my question, do you have any in turn?"

She nodded. "I really do want to know who you are."

"Harley. Mr. Harley. I'm the CEO of a very large company. To answer your next question, or at least what I'm assuming it will be, an employee of ours had built a robotic device, which we used to save you."

A robot? "Ok? But... How did you know I needed help, and why would you help me?"

He walked over to the window on the other side of the room. Looking out of it, he replied, "I like to keep... A tab of sort, on anyone that appears on my dossier list. You, Miss Leijon, were on said list. Though you're very young, you show great potential! I need someone with your adept survival skills to preform a job. You'll be well compensated. In fact, as a gesture of good faith, you have no need to worry of medical bills."

Hmm... "What's the job?"

Grinning at her, he said, "Adventure, thrills around every corner, and of course, a space trip! I've already spoken to your guardians and received their permission, seeing as you're still a minor for the time being. So, what say you?" Extending his hand towards her.

Whoa, that would be pretty cool! She definitely couldn't let some cave-in get the best of her. This would be a redemption of sorts, to prove she did have what it took to survive out there.

Shaking his hand, she answered, "I say yes!"

"Excellent, most excellent my dear. Now, I'll send someone to gather your things. You rest and recover. Soon, you'll meet with the rest of the crew, along with a briefing of your assignment."

As he began making his way towards the door, he began to violently cough, needing to lean against the wall to prevent him from falling. Concerned, she asked, "Mister, are you alright?"

He waved off her question. After a few more moments of his fit, he stopped, replying, "Quite alright. Allergies, perhaps. Now then, I should be off." This time being able to reach the door.

Inspecting the damage, her hands were scarred, along with serious wounds to her left leg. Well, at least she was still alive, right? Anyway, she looked on the bright side: she might have almost died, but she just got a pretty cool job! She was sure she was gonna have a blast working with these people. Heh, at least when she could drag herself out of bed that is.

(AN: Sooooo, I did my math wrong; the next update will be the last of the intros. Also, something pretty cool: I made an official timeline! I put the address on my profile for anyone that needs/wants to see it. I know the jumps are confusing, so I figured it'd help a little. It starts with the earliest date (Gamzee's birthday) and progresses from there. I swear it's not spam or a virus or anything; it actually took awhile to organize the mess I made. Anyhoo, I hope you guys like everything so far! Please let me know if there's anything I could do to enhance it in any way, and I'll see what I can do :D).


	17. An Interesting Request

May 6, 2218

And with that, her schooling was over. Well, no longer required, that is. She did not need it at that point, nor any other in the past few years. Merely a legality of sorts. Only those driven could leave at such time, but her time spent here was... Amusing. She enjoyed watching the 'clicks' and the 'posies' from a far, observing how every group interacted and treated each other. Their actions at times were very odd. Some groups tended to invite anyone they could, the Socials of the grounds, while many others were more selective. This seemed to be a trait of those with insecurities, therefore compensating with a false pretense of superiority over others. Quite odd indeed.

But, as entertaining as it has been watching her fellow classmates over the past four years, she was somewhat relieved to leave it behind. It had been rather difficult being around... People. Entertaining, yes, but odd. She preferred to observe, though many tried to include her in activities. Reluctantly, she did partake in a select few. None to her liking, if she were honest. Being involved also had a habit of bringing about 'drama', and that was avoided if at all possible.

As she gathered her belongings in her dorm room, she heard a knocking on her door. Odd. She had a mental time-sheet for everyone in the building. There wasn't a reason for someone to knock on her door, at least right now. Putting down her notebook, she made her way towards the door, thinking about who it could be. Not her roommate, certainly not any professor. No relatives. Hmm.

Upon opening, she was greeted with a-

'Oh my.' She thought.

Outside her door was a rather attractive female. She would had blushed had she not mastered all expressions. Now this was most certainly unexpected.

"Hello there, may I help you?" She asked the stranger.

Smiling slightly, she responded, "Yes, in fact. You are Kanaya Maryam, correct?"

Nodding, she said, "Indeed. May I ask why you're here?"

"You may, though be fore warned the answer to that is lengthy. Shall we walk?"

Dodging the question inferred that she was going to be requested for a service.

Interesting.

"Alright." She replied, following the stranger as they walked. "So, you know my name; what would yours be?"

"Lalonde. Rose Lalonde. And you, no doubt, are wondering what I am doing upon your door step."

As they reached the end of the hallway, they turned. "Well I can not say the thought didn't happen across my mind." Replying in turn.

Nodding, Rose said, "As expected. Now then," She pressed the button to call the elevator. "I work for a rather large and advanced corporation, and seeing as I was the only one qualified, I was assigned an important task."

The two of them stepped into the elevator, going towards the first floor.

"And what task would that be, Miss Lalonde?" Kanaya asked curiously.

Rose turned and smiled at her. "Why, finding an equal, of course."

As the elevator doors opened, Rose made her way out the building, Kanaya close in tow. An equal?

"What do you mean by that?" She asked as Rose lead her to a vehicle.

"Exactly as I said." Rose replied with.

Rather sarcastic, wasn't she?

"Then may I ask for an elaboration?" Kanaya asked, though this time with a hint of a dry tone.

As Rose opened her car door, she retrieved some files and handed to them to Kanaya. "These should do the elaborating for me. Please let me know when you are finished."

She took the papers, skimming each as shuffled through them. In short, she was being requested to come along on an exploration mission for the S.B.U.R.B corporation.

"Why am I being looked into for this? I don't have any training for space travel." She asked after finishing.

Rose chuckled. "Well, very few of us actually do. You're needed for the same reason I am: to keep people sane and to detect any Somalian in a person's mental state."

So she herself was someone in the psychological field. That's what qualified her. "And why was I selected? I'm quite sure there were many people with far greater achievements."

"There were. However, I read your file. While you're not a slacker, you don't quite have 'ambition'. I saw great genius and potential in your file, however, so that is why you have been chosen. So, shall I keep on with my search, or have I found one equal to my own skills?" Arching an eyebrow, setting an unspoken challenge.

Kanaya knew this was way out of her league. She'd have to deal with tight spaces with the same people for an unsaid amount of time. However... This Rose, she seemed... Interesting. And, of course, Kanaya couldn't resist something entertaining. Plus, who knows? She may even have fun along the way.

"Though I am somewhat hesitant, I believe you have indeed found an equal." She replied, winning her challenge.

Again, the small smile Rose had came up again as she said, "Excellent. Now then, gather your things, and we shall go to the company's headquarters for further briefing."

"Alright. Could you assist me with my belongings?" Kanaya asked, with the smallest trace of playfulness.

This seemed to confuse Rose. "It didn't appear that there were that many."

"There's not, but I rather enjoy your company, so I ask anyway."

The slightest tint of blush warmed Rose's face. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose I may be able to be of service."

Kanaya turned to lead back to her room, this time Rose following. Though this was far out of her comfort zone, she knew that if nothing else, this would prove to be rather... Interesting.

(AN: That's it everyone! Intros are done! Time for the start of the beginning of the story. When you see the title "LAUNCH", that's the official start. Until then, however, I'll be writing miscellaneous stories involving the characters interacting with each other, like John and Dave derping around or Dirk and Equius arguing over mechanic stuff and things like that. If anyone has any ideas, I'll see if they can be worked in. Of course, any idea given shall be credited if it works with the overall story. Sorry the actual story is taking so long; I promise I do have plans for it! There's just a lot of stuff that needs to be in order before we can begin. I set up how everyone got there; now I need to set up how everyone interacts with each other).


	18. Dossiers (Chapter Summaries)

(AN: This chapter is a summary of every previous chapter, along with some commentary from a random worker writing these dossiers down).

_DOSSIER INFORMATION-CLASSIFIED_

**Subject:** Egbert, John

**Position:** Leader

**D.O.B:** April 13, 2200

**Bio:** Egbert came into the company after leaving highschool at early age (17). Special accommodations were made, seeing as he had the full backing of our CEO. He's been primarily responsible as a scout and representative for Project: CLASSIFIED. Has been assigned leader of Team Beta, whenever it is fully formed.

**Skill Set:** Egbert is intelligent, and he has a strong moral code. He's one of the few with somewhat proper training. His charisma will help the others accept his role as leader, and his passive nature will keep any power-abuse in check. Oddly, his humor will also be of service, to keep morale up on board.

**TTN** (Things to note): While he is intelligent, he has very little ambition to show it. Has been know to break rules and regulations as he sees fit. His father's death has left an emotional and mental strain on him, causing him to act random and reckless on occasion. As a defense mechanism, he will avoid being serious and joke about, not attending to the problem at hand. According to recent information, it would appear that he has relations to Harley, Jade (sister), English, Jake (cousin) and Crocker, Jane (cousin). Due to an argument, has hostilities towards Nitram.

**Subject:** Strider, Dave

**Position:** Co-Leader

**D.O.B:** December 3, 2219

**Bio:** To be frank, we had doubts about *Strider. Egbert found him on the street and convinced our CEO to give him the position. Claimed he had potential. As of joining, it would appear Egbert was correct. He makes up for many of Egbert's flaws, lacking Egbert's scatterbrained mind.

**Skill Set:** Calm under pressure, for the most part. While he doesn't show it, Strider is something of a bright mind. Equally, his training has shown he's more than physically capable of handling his own, both in space and his 'fighting' skills he mentions frequently.

**TTN:** Arrogant and head-strong, Strider has a habit of believing himself infallible. Has tendencies to split from the group during training to attend to his hobbies, claiming they were of greater importance. He also seems to never take off his sunglasses, reason unknown. Related to Lalonde, Rose (sister), Strider, Dirk (cousin), and Lalonde, Roxy (cousin).

*Not to be confused with Strider, Dirk.

**Subject:** Lalonde, Rose

**Position:** Therapist/Researcher

**D.O.B:** December 4, 2218

**Bio:** *Lalonde was a newly graduated psychiatrist when she came into our company. As a both a test and his real concern, our CEO sent Egbert to be evaluated by Lalonde. Though she appeared to know it was a test and cautiously proceed, the pretense was dropped when she saw Egbert's emotional damage. She was also primarily in charge of finding another person of equal talents for Team Alpha.

**Skill Set:** Quick-witted and sharp, Lalonde has to be one of the most intellectually superior on the mission. While her main assignment is the crew, it is no doubt she'll take part in the mission.

**TTN:** Judges very quickly, believing her first impressions are correct. Rather secretive and "all-knowing", even to the point of asking what we would say about her in these reports (which they were not told of). Seems to have an interest in Maryam, possibly even romantic feelings. Related to Strider, Dave (brother), Strider, Dirk (cousin) and Lalonde, Roxy (cousin).

*Not to be confused with Lalonde, Roxy

**Subject:** Harley, Jade

**Position:** Head-Researcher/Physicist

**D.O.B:** April 13, 2220

**Bio:** Harley has been involved longer than anyone, including Egbert. She was determined to see an advanced space vehicle capable of extended human travel. If not for her, the project would have never progressed as it did. Inventor of G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N. She watched over Egbert during is adolescent years, acting as a friend and guardian. The two seem to have a close bond. The death of our CEO has hit her hard, but Egbert has been able to keep her functional during this time.

**Skill Set:** Optimistic and determined, Harley is an excellent example of everything our company strives for. She's the only one who really understands how the G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N works. Her personality will be an asset to keep morale up.

**TTN:** Has been known to snap at people on occasion. Somewhat forgetful, she has a complicated remembering system that no one else really understands. Related to Egbert, John (brother), English, Jake (cousin) and Crocker, Jane (cousin).

**Subject:** English, Jake

**Position:** Explorer

**D.O.B:** December 1, 2199

**Bio:** A relative to our CEO, English has been funded countless ventures by the company. He quickly agreed to the mission after it was offered. His way to the company is, ironically, not as explorations as the others.

**Skill Set:** Adventurous and brave, English shows no fear in exploring the unknown. Shows great passion for exploring, English will no doubt prove to be one of the top scouts in the field.

**TTN:** Extremely naive and thick-headed. Believes he's invincible, or at least he acts like it. Seems to be somewhat self-centered and obtuse when it comes to anyone but him. Related to Egbert, John (cousin), Harley, Jade (cousin) and Crocker, Jane (cousin-by-marriage). Seems to have a romantic interest in both *Strider and Crocker, leaning towards the former.

*Not to be mistaken for Strider, Dave

**Subject:** Lalonde, Roxy

**Position:** Technicians Expert

**D.O.B:** December 4, 2197

**Bio:** *Lalonde was already in the company's service when she became a part of the mission. She perfected, later on with the help of Captor, the programming issues involving G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N. She was mentioned by both Striders and recommended we look into Lalonde, Rose. While she might have too much field experience, she has been very vital to the mission.

**Skill Set:** One of the best programmers in the company, Lalonde almost single-handily fixed all the bugs and imperfections in the G.R.E.E.N-S.U.N program. Seems rather upbeat, good for morale.

**TTN:** Reports show she, on average, has a high amount of alcohol in her system. Will undoubtedly go into withdrawal a few weeks into the mission. Though flirtatious, she doesn't seem to really have a want to go beyond that with anyone. Related to Lalonde, Rose (cousin), Strider, Dirk (cousin-by-marriage), and Strider, Dave (cousin).

**Subject:** Strider, Dirk

**Position:** Mechanics

**D.O.B:** December 3, 2218

**Bio:** Recommended to us by Strider, *Strider proved to be an invaluable asset. His mechanical skills have only been equaled by Zahhak. Sent an android-like robot to Egbert to prove he was a worthy addition to the crew. Helped build the ships, though lost many arguments over the design.

**Skill Set:** Extremely collected and always thinking, Strider can keep a cooler head than his cousin at most times. Skilled with mechanical knowledge, he knows how both ships work and how to repair them.

**TTN:** His... Robot. "Hal". We know of it's A.I mind, though he didn't tell us. It needs to be kept away from both ships at all times, in case of it's sudden body change. We don't know what could happen if it 'controls' one of the ships. Seems to have a romantic interest in English; may cause issue with Crocker in the future. Related to Strider, Dave (cousin), Lalonde, Rose (cousin) and Lalonde, Roxy (cousin-by-marriage).

*Not to be mistaken for Strider, Dave.

**Subject:** Crocker, Jane

**Position:** Botanist/Cook

**D.O.B:** April 13, 2198

**Bio:** Crocker had already been working with the company before she was assigned this mission. She was developing a super fertilizer, one that could compress acre's of nutrients into pot-sized amounts. In succeeding, we can now send people into space without worry of food or air.

**Skill Set:** Bright and quick, Crocker has some of the most needed knowledge for this mission to be a success. Equal to Harley, Zahhak, *Strider, **Lalonde, and Captor in mission importance. Only she knows how the fertilizer works and what foods will be edible.

**TTN:** Very skeptical of people. Has a tendency to push away her problems until she explodes with them. Seems to have a romantic intrest in English, may cause issues with Strider in the future. Related to Egbert, John (cousin), Harley, Jade (cousin) and English, Jake (cousin-by-marriage).

*Not to be mistaken with Strider, Dave.

**Not to be mistaken for Lalonde, Rose.

**Subject:** Megido, Aradia

**Position:** Geologist/Archaeologist

**D.O.B:** March 27, 2199

**Bio:** A college student, Megido came across one of the numerous Cells we displaced around the world. The first, in fact. The company was in need of someone driven, and we found her. Egbert met her after she saw our CEO summarize the offer given to her. She accepted. Afterwards, she mentioned Captor to us. It was hard tracking him down, but thanks to her, we gained another skilled technician.

**Skill Set:** Very out-going and driven, Megido has the same drive as English to explore the unknown, thrilled by adventure. Her knowledge with geology will no doubt prove vital, as we need an accurate understanding of the new planet.

**TTN:** At times too passive. Has a pre-company relationship with Captor.

**Subject:** Nitram, Tavros

**Position:** Zoologist

**D.O.B:** May 3, 2200

**Bio:** Went mountain climbing with Serket and Pyrope; due to Serket, ended up paralyzed from the waist down. A firework signaled to locals that they needed help, and a rescue team was sent. Seeing as Pyrope and Serket were candidates of ours, we immediately found out. Sending in our own people, we provided the care that all three needed. Seems to be upset over the loss of his legs, though he doesn't talk about it much.

**Skill Set:** A friendly person, Nitram gets along with everyone pretty well, with a few exceptions. His knowledge in zoology should provide helpful, seeing as our scans show lifeforms on the planet.

**TTN:** Hostile towards Egbert after a dispute. Avoids Serket for obvious reasons. Extremely passive natureed.

**Subject:** Captor, Sollux

**Position:** Technicians

**D.O.B:** February 2, 2198

**Bio:** Captor was an national hacker before we found him, and we only did because we hired him to hit us. Luckily, we had Lalonde set up a trap to trigger when he got into the system. Our CEO personally went to "offer" him a job. He was about to turn it down for prison until it was brought up that Megido was with us, which changed his mind.

**Skill Set:** Extremely talented with electronics, only matched with his natural intelligence.

**TTN:** Very pessimistic and sarcastic. Avoids the group. Has a pre-company relationship with Megido. After an incident, extremely hostile with Ampora.

**Subject:** Vantas, Karkat

**Position:** Leader

**D.O.B:** Jun 23, 2199

**Bio:** From a private school, Vantas appeared on our radar from his superior grades. He came into our service early on, extremely determined to prove himself to someone.

**Skill Set:** Great at directing a group, Vantas is able to lead with authority. While he isn't as intelligent as some of the others, he is a hard-worker, willing to put all energy towards a goal, border-line obsessed.

**TTN:** Anger issues are definitely a problem. Born with anemia, he has severe health conditions, though we've done our best to suppress it. Seems to have an interest in Pyrope.

**Subject:** Leijon, Nepeta

**Position:** Explorer/Survival Expert

**D.O.B:** August 2, 2201

**Bio:** Leijon had only recently popped up on our dossier list when she was reported in a cave-in. Zahhak's robot had beaten *Strider's to rescuing her. Our CEO offered her a position after she was brought to our healthcare facility.

**Skill Set:** Agile and light on her feet, she's one of the most athletic people on the mission. Can quickly adapt to any environment and survive on her own.

**TTN:** After her incident, she has extreme fears of water, quite understandably. Bonded with Zahhak after she found out his robot saved her.

*Not to be mistaken for Strider, Dave

**Subject:** Maryam, Kanaya

**Position:** Therapist

**D.O.B:** September 17, 2197

**Bio:** A graduate from college, Maryam was recruited by *Lalonde as an equal for psychiatric skills. She has been assigned Team Alpha to watch over.

**Skill Set:** Equal to *Lalonde in every way, though, if possible, even more sarcastic.

**TTN:** Doesn't appear to have any particular issues on the surface. Seems to have romantic feelings towards *Lalonde.

*Not to be mistaken for Lalonde, Roxy.

**Subject:** Pyrope, Terezi

**Position:** Co-Leader

**D.O.B:** September 27, 2199

**Bio:** After going on a mountain trip, Pyrope ended up blinded by a prank pulled by Serket. She was on our list of dossiers at that point, and after we heard of the incident, we sent a team to bring them to our healthcare facility. Eyes are a hard thing to replace, as the blinded end up seeing weird stuff (We honestly don't know) so we bypassed this by inserting a device that 'paints' a picture in her head via smell. By all accounts, it's functional.

**Skill Set:** Athletic and quick-witted, she was an obvious choice for the mission. Rather intelligent.

**TTN:** Extremely sarcastic. Can be pessimistic. Seems to flirt on occasion with Vantas. Has extremely hostile towards Serket, for the obvious reasons.

**Subject:** Serket, Vriska

**Position:** Explorer

**D.O.B:** November 1, 2199

**Bio:** After going on a mountain trip, she's primarily responsible for the injuries caused to herself, Pyrope, and Nitram. Luckily she was on the dossier list, and the incident was reported to us. After sending our own team, we gave the three of them the medical attention they needed. She was knocked unconscious the longest, around two months. In the accident, she lost an arm and an eye.

**Skill Set:** Sharp and physically-capable, Serket is equal to Pyrope. (Sorry boss, I'm just running out of ways to sum up these people).

**TTN:** Tensions high with Pyrope (understandably). Seems to flirt occasionally with Egbert. Has been a bit shaken since her incident.

**Subject:** Zahhak, Equius

**Position:** Mechanic

**D.O.B:** November 26, 2199

**Bio:** Zahhak was raised from a wealthy family, though it eventually hit poverty. He eventually splits from his family and started his own business as a mechanic. However, we discovered him via internet forums for fixing and modifying designs for vehicles and devices. In fact, he is primarily responsible for the design of the ships, though he was supposed to work with *Strider.

**Skill Set:** Adept with mechanical knowledge. Holds himself with high esteem. Honestly, he's kind of the only one besides *Strider who knows how to fix anything wrong with the ships. Extraordinarily strong.

**TTN:** Sometimes too confident in himself. Tends to avoid the group, though he does allow Leijon to befriend him. (Kind of creepy).

**Subject:** Makara, Gamzee

**Position:** (Ehh...) Explorer

**D.O.B:** Jan 3, 2196

**Bio:** Ok, look, no one really *wants* him here. His dad was some richey rich guy that gave Makara the boot. Now we're stuck with him.

**Skill Set:** God, I don't know. He's good at standing around? Being distracted? Getting stoned?

**TTN:** Stoner. Drop-out. Drop-out. Oh, said that one. Likes clowns and stuff.

**Subject:** Ampora, Eridan

**Position:** Liminologist

**D.O.B:** Jan 24, 2197

**Bio:** A college student, Ampora was recruited during a scuba dive with Peixes. Our CEO personally flew out and picked up the two of them. Out of the two, was the one hesitant to join.

**Skill Set:** Talented with fresh water knowledge. Quite skilled with a harpoon gun (for what it's worth?). Head-strong and determined.

**TTN:** Arrogant and full of himself. Extremely suspicious of the company. Has romantic feelings towards Peixes, though she doesn't seem to notice.

**Subject:** Peixes, Feferi

**Position:** Oceanographer

**D.O.B:** Mar 3, 2198

**Bio:** A college student, Peixes was recruited during a scuba dive with Ampora. Our CEO personally flew out and picked up the two of them. Out of the two, was the one happy to join.

**Skill Set:** Brimming with ocean knowledge, she can note almost anything involving any aquatic flora and fauna. Very passionate and determined. Extremely good swimmer.

**TTN:** Unaware of Ampora's feelings. Gets along with everyone quite well.


	19. First Impressions

_July 8, 2218_

The helicopter ride was hell. He had this black-mailing museum exhibit smiling and trying to talk to him, all friendly-like. Like Sollux was gonna give him the time of day. He didn't care how much he was 'being compensated' or 'what a great thing' they were doing. Being here was by pure force. This guy could have a gun pointed at her head or something. Fuck. He should have known better.

He spent years separating himself from society. Better that way. People were usually a waste of time. Drama, social obligations, and just pure stupidity. He never liked people as a whole, so he decided that he didn't need them at all. Every attempt at a 'friendship' was shot down immediately. Well... Minus her...

He really didn't know what he saw in her. They met on some internet forum, arguing about some stupid theory until they were both making jokes and taking. He tried to cut her off, but she was pretty damn persistent. Eventually, he replied back. Ever since, the two of them had been in close contact. One could even say... Well, dating. It was weird, feeling like this. Needing someone to be ok. Actually wanting to have their company.

He hated it.

He was silent, the entire ride. The fossil kept blabbering on until they finally reached some random building in the middle of the desert. The fuck?

The door opened, and Sollux hopped out of the helicopter. Against his better judgement, he asked, "Hey Grandpa, where the hell are we?"

His smile grew, finally getting some kind of response. "Why, my boy, we are at your new home! We certainly cannot conduct business in an urban sprawl now can we?"

This place better have some wi-fi or he's gonna shove this guy's glasses down his throat. "And what exactly is the 'business'?"

Dusty chuckled. "Now you wish to converse I see. Unfortunately," He looked at his watch. "It's rather late, and I have many things to attend to."

Glaring at the man, Sollux replied, "So you're going to just ditch me in some warehouse located directly in the ass-crack of nowhere?!"

Sighing slightly, Harley answered, "Mr. Captor, I'm quite weary. Please proceed inside; I've arranged someone to meet you at the door. Now then, I really must go."

Closing the door, the copter took off, nearly blowing Sollux down.

Fucking hated that guy.

Well, he might as well go meet whatever dickbag was sent to babysit him. At least he wasn't dealing with that asswipe anymore. Making his way towards the only door, he knocked as he reached it. Better not be some set-up.

The door opened, and there stood a... A girl. Long hair. Big smile. Was it...

"Aradia?" He asked hesitantly.

They both fell down as she tackled him. Normally he'd be pissed but... Ok, shut up, this wasn't normal. Hugging him tightly, she said, "Sollux! I didn't think they'd find you!"

Man she had a strong grip. "I don't think 'find' is right. Trapped works better."

Getting off him, she helped Sollux hug, this time ending with him hugging her. It was... Nice.

"Heh, trapped huh? That doesn't sound like the brilliant mind of Sollux Captor." She said with sarcasm.

"Giants can fall too." He replied with a joking tone.

"Does the prideful Captor show humility? This is a strange day indeed!" She looked at him and smiled even larger. "It is really nice to finally meet you in person! So, what'd Mr. Harley do to 'trap' you?" She asked curiously.

Yeah. He never actually told her he was a rouge hacker. Just mentioned he did private work for some companies here and there.

He shrugged. "Lame phrasing. Trapped me with a good choice and a bad choice. Anyway, how'd you get here? You never mentioned it before."

"Oh, I had to sign a bunch of legal waivers to say I'd keep this a secret. Sorry about that." She added, sheepishly.

"It's fine. So, wanna show me around?" He asked, wanting to get a look around this dump.

"Sure thing!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the building. Before they got anywhere though, she suddenly stopped. "Hey Sollux, you said you had a speech problem?"

Ehh, his lisp. He rarely brought it up. Normally, he'd blow up at it, but right now didn't seem the time. Hesitantly, he said, "Yeah. Why?"

She cocked her head to the right and replied, "Well, I haven't noticed anything wrong with how you speak."

What? "Wait, how haven't you heard it? The lisp?" Emphasizing the 's'.

"Hmm... I dunno. Guess I'm too focused on what you're saying, not how you're saying it." She chuckled. "Sorry, that must have sounded weird."

He shaked his head. "No, it's ok." Damn it. He was feeling... Warm and fuzzy inside. Ugh. Well... He guessed it couldn't be that bad. She was worth it. It had been awhile since someone was close to him. It felt nice.

"Heh, if you say so. Anyway, I'll show you around the real place!"

The room they were in was completely barren, minus a small panel on the opposite wall from the door. Pressing it, Aradia opened a secret door beside it. Looked like an elevator. Which, of course, she entered.

"We're going in that thing?" He asked, confused and a bit suspicious.

She nodded. "Come on, it'll be ok." She extended her hand, motioning for him to take it.

Damn it. He still didn't trust this place, but he trusted her. This girl is gonna get him killed one day, he knew it.

Taking her hand, he said, "If I get shot, I'm coming back as a ghost and haunting you for at least a week."

She arched an eyebrow. "Only a week?"

As the doors closed, he replied, "Yeah. A week. Maybe two."

She giggled. "You wouldn't make a very good ghost."

Their weight shifted downwards, the elevator descending.

"Like you'd make a better one." He retorted sarcastically.

She bumped her shoulder into him. "Better one than you Captor! You'd probably miss your laptop and cry for weeks about it."

The two of them went on with their remarks and casual flirting, neither of them knowing what the future would have in store for them. Whatever it was, he would do what he always did: raise hell and look good doing it. He'd probably hang out with Aradia, too. She was cool enough to keep up with him.

And... Maybe he was cool enough to keep up with her too.


	20. A Serious Flaw

_October 28, 2217_

"Dude, I literally have no fucking clue what the hell you're thinking!" Dirk shouted at Equius, though he didn't react to the shouting.

Not looking up from his workbench, he responded, "I'm thinking of efficiency. My blueprints allow for maxim output with minimal input. I suppose your issues may in lay with the fact that I do not allow for many 'comforts'."

Dirk shook his head, returning back to his own workplace, opposite of Equius'. "Comforts." He muttered. He sat down, looking over his design. Yeah, fuck that guy. "The hell mine has 'comforts'." Mocking how Equius spoke. "My design-"

"Has a percentage difference from mine by at least twenty percent." Equius said, cutting Dirk off.

Irritated, Dirk responded, "At least has more than one freaking bathroom! You even put it over the engine!"

While Equius was usually neutral in expression, Dirk could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "In doing so keeps running water over it, decreasing the need for coolants."

"Ok, let me rephrase that: You even put it over *nuclear-powered* engine! Fuck that! 'Oh hey, what happened to that Egbert guy?' 'Wouldn't you know it, he took a dump and blew himself up.'. No way I'm sitting on a toilet loaded with a nuke."

Sighing, Equius finally looked up. "Strider, if you have a problem with my leading, than I suggest you discuss it with Mr. Harley. And I strongly suggest you watch your language. We are highly trained professional, not lower grease monkies. Take pride in yourself."

Fucking pretentious asshat. Throwing his hands up, Dirk said, "I was in charge of this thing until you went and told them that I was 'inadequate' for the job. That I was, what was it? 'Irresponsible and lacked the proper knowledge to build a refined vehicle of transport'?" Sarcasm dripping in his voice.

Returning to his work, Equius responded, "Are you implying I was false?"

"Hey, I might not be the most polished guy around here, but I'm the best one qualified for this! You know what? I'm gonna make MY team's ship, and if they don't like it, they can find themselves another guy to strap into a tin can." As he said this, he got up from his chair and exited the room. Freakin' nerve of that guy.

Testing Dirk's patience ever since he got here. He gets him demoted, criticizes Hal's design, tries to one-up everything he does. Man, screw him.

Where the hell was he going? This whole underground-Area 51-lab thing was like a maze. Ok, hold on. Gotta do a mental check of the freakin' map.

Floor 1: Security Check

Floor 2: Cafeteria

Floor 3: Design (Waste of time, already there)

Floor 4: Bio stuff

Floor 5: Personal Quarters

Ah hell. Screw it, where's that Egbert guy? Probably screwing around with his cousin. Making his way towards the elevator, he hit the down button as he entered it. His communicator in his glasses lit up. Luckily he had a wireless receiver in his ear at all time.

"Wow, he really got to ya', huh?"

Ugh. Dirk rolled his eyes. "Shut up Hal. I put you in here for emergencies, not to taunt me."

"I'm not taunting. I'm pointing out a fact. If you can't tell the difference, perhaps that's a personal issue of yours."

Ding. The elevator door opened. He didn't have time to be criticized by himself. "Look, just shut it for now. Don't want to look like a goddamned lunatic while I'm asking for a favor."

"Whatever you command, Oh Mighty Master." Sarcastic jerkbag.

Going into the male side of the personal quarters, he found Egbert and Dave playing videogames. Of course. And Zahhak called him unprofessional.

"Yo, Egbert." Dirk called out.

Pausing the game, he looked back. "Oh, hey Dirk! What's up?"

"That Zahhak guy, that's what. I don't want to fly on any ship he puts his pretentious fingers on. I build our ship, he builds theirs." He replied, straight to the point.

Dave smirked slightly. "Wow, he really got you shaken up. Haven't seen you like this since that Christmas party."

"Christmas party? I need to hear this story." Hal chipped in.

"Stuff it." Dirk said to Hal.

"Whoa, calm down there princess. I was just joking." Dave said, mistaken in who Dirk was talking to.

Fucking Hal. "Whatever." He turned back to John. "If you say no, I'm walking out of here. If he had points, I'd listen. Everything he does is stupid as hell and I refuse to deal with incompetence."

John seemed a bit hazed by Dirk's rapid demand. "Uhh, sure? I don't see the problem there?"

Dirk nodded. "Good. Also, I should point out that some of us are actually working."

"We are working yo." Dave told him.

"Yepp! Hand-eye coordination." John added, grinning at Dave.

Dirk rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Well I'm going back to actually make us a decent ship. He was going to give us one bathroom you know. One. On top of the nuclear engine. Thanks Dirk for not sending us down the river like that."

The two of them went back to what they were doing. "Ok, thanks Dirk." John said as he unpaused the game.

"Yeah, thanks man." Dave said in turn.

Well, at least he could make his ship again. He could bask in the smallest joy that the people on Zahhak's ship would probably kill him in the first ten minutes. Returning to the elevator, his communicator lit up again.

"Well that was easy." Beeped in Hal.

"Yeah. They were playing games. Of course I was gonna get waved way with a yes." He responded.

"So, this Equius guy. I got my money on him, honestly. He's got muscles the size of your head."

"You know he called your design flawed and imperfect, right?"

"Aren't we all flawed? Besides, if there's something fucked up with me, it's because you did it."

Dirk shook his head. "Thank you, oh Loyal Creation. Can't believe that guy. He's even re-modeling my design for you and making his own bots."

"Why don't you kiss him already? You haven't stopped talking about him for the past ten minutes."

Dirk tapped his glasses, shutting off the communicator. Ding. The doors opened back to Floor 3. He didn't need that right now. Especially from kinda-himself. Time to get back to work. When he was done, he was gonna rub Zahhak's sweaty, pretentious face in it.


	21. A Lewd Friendship

_September 27, 2218_

Man, this was the wickedest shit. Gamzee was all up and watching these parts being made and put together. Motherfucking mind-bending. Pointy-Shades kicked him out awhile ago though, so he had to watch Square Shades build his ship. Or their ship. Cool either way. He didn't really have a job, so he just followed people around, asking them some questions. Pointy Shades got all up and annoyed with him for some reason though. They both kinda looked the same. Like a lava lamp on it's side. Square Shades came by, holdin' some heavy looking pipes on his shoulder. Gamzee followed causally, asking his questions along the way.

"Yo, so, Z-bro, I gotta know why both your ships are a circle. I thought they was all like a triangle."

Square Shades sighed. "It's the best design to mimic gravity. Makara, I've explained this several times in many briefings."

"Whoa man, you're gonna make gravity? That's some motherfuckin' tight shit there!" Gamzee replied, genuinely interested.

Putting the pipes down in his work-space, Square Shades turned to him. "No, we're mimicking it. We're going to spin the ships, causing a centripetal force that will allow us to walk normally. And while you lack any type of profession, a man of your status and class should refrain from such lewd language."

Square Shades put some special goggles on to start welding the pipes into some chill stuff. "Whoa, that's still pretty tight. And bro, we all got our flow. Mine just goes any motherfucking way it does. I don't wanna step on your grill though, so I'll try to chill." He paused, looking around. "How big is this mother-honking place?"

Shades didn't look up from his welding. "Quite. Level 3 consists of the offices and the warehouse. And replacing the word with another word does not stop the word from being thought of."

"So you're gonna build the whole thing here?" He went on, forgetting Shades' question.

Shades sighed again. Weird how people always seemed to sigh around him. "No, Makara. We build it in parts to be assembled above at a later date."

"Whys that?"

"Because it's the most efficient way."

"So why are you and Pointy Shades building different ships?"

He stopped his welding and looked up at Gamzee. "I truly don't mean to be rude, but don't you have something else to be doing?"

Gamzee shook his head. "Nah bro, but thanks for asking. I'm just all up and curious about this whole thing."

Shaking his head slightly, Shades went back to work. "Strider and I disagree on the limits. My design has efficiency in mind, while he has only comforts. When we go into space, our ship will use far less energy than theirs."

"That's cool yo. If I get whatcha saying, it sounds like you should be building both ships yo."

A small smile popped up on Shades face. Man that was rare. "Thank you, Makara. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Whoa, he was actually asking if he wanted to know stuff. That was chill of him. Gamzee smiled at Shades. "Bro, I got so many questions. I'm sure you know all this though."

"I'm inclined to agree." Shades responded, nodding slightly.

So Gamzee went on asking his questions. Shades was cool. Answered every one of them. Real chill. Only got annoyed a few times. Even said he'd teach Gamzee how to talk good. Heh, he was funny. Pretty sure him and Shades were gonna have be buddies in no time. Tell some wicked jokes, have some laughs. He knew this one joke that motherfuckin' killed everyone at a comedy club he went to once. Everyone laughed their head off. Well, if he could remember it. Always forgot the punchline. All well. Anyway, they were gonna flow together pretty motherfucking tight.

(AN: Just to mention it, yes, Gamzee's chapters will always be really short. I narrate as the characters would (or try to at least) and while I don't really describe much going on, my take on Gamzee is that he's not very perspective, so the narration tends to lack a lot of what's going on around him. Just wanted to make sure I threw that out there).


	22. A Tearing Situation

March 2, 2218

The two of them sat across from each other, one lost in anger while the other plagued with worry. His glasses were crooked, likely due to the fight. Bruises on his face. Hair all over the place, and a slight chip to one of his teeth. From what she saw, however, he received the lesser of the injuries.

"So, Mr. Egbert, care to explain your side of what occurred?" Rose asked, her tone staying on the cautious side. John was in a volatile state at the moment. Anything she said could instantly cause negative repercussions.

He was mildly shaking, staring at the floor. "I don't want to talk about it. Can't you just slap me on the wrist? Put me in the corner? Better yet, why don't we fire him? I'd like that."

Rose sighed. He was absolutely impossible to deal with when he was like this. She was told that she needed to resolve the conflict soon, else her, shall we say, credentials would be in question. Plus... From the time she spent with John, she knew he was a good person. He was just extraordinary hurt and guilt-ridden. Unhealthy, yes, but there was a heart under the pain. It was odd, having a friend.

She softened her tone. "Look, John... We need to discuss this. If nothing else, it doesn't help anyone to lash out at me, so you might as well allow me to help."

"Ugh! I'm not a kid you know! I'm almost a fucking adult, so why does everyone treat me like I'm a child throwing a tantrum?!" He got up from his chair, pacing about. He was clenching his fist quite tightly; if Rose didn't know John as well as she did, she would have been somewhat fearful of him in this state. The best comparison would be to a tornado or a hurricane. Potentially dangerous, though with enough caution and patience, it should work itself out. He would talk to her reasonably soon.

How to go about this... His temper was on thin ice. She pushed her hand through her hair. "I know you're not, as well as the others. You must admit though, your actions do provoke the question. I spoke with Mr. Nitram already, and you can't say you did not overreact, at the very least, slightly."

He snapped his head immediately at her. Damn it. "Overreact? OVERREACT?!" In a stride, he made his way towards her desk, slamming his fists violently on the table. "He ruined the ONE THING that kept me going! I don't give a flying fuck if it was an accident, if I see him again, I'm going to shove that little prick's wheelchair down his FUCKING THROAT!"

She sighed again as she shook her head. This went far better with Nitram.

"John... Please, work with me. If you believe he is at fault, I want you to calm down and explain the situation. If you don't, they'll replace me. I don't want to leave, and I don't want someone else to help a friend. For both of us, please calm down."

He looked at her, hurt replacing the anger. "Fine." He sat back in his chair.

~~~~~20 minutes ago~~~~~

Rose never really sat down to speak with Mr. Nitram. Neither had John, she believed, until today. She wasn't quite sure what happened, but she was immediately summoned during her lunch period. Apparently a physical confrontation occurred between Mr. Nitram and John, and it was up to her to resolve it.

He looked exactly as one would after a fight. His nose had almost finished bleeding, his face was almost entirely purple, and he was missing a few chunks of his hair. Though she didn't show it, she was shocked that it was John that did this. They've been doing so well in their recent sessions... No matter. Now she needed to fix this.

She cleared her throat. "So, Mr. Nitram, would you care to tell me what happened?"

His voice was muffled by the rag he held to his nose, but she could still hear him. "Uhh, yeah. That guy just attacked me!"

That could not just be it. While he was unstable, John had been improving. "Perhaps you should start from the beginning."

"Why? Look, I was, uhh, ok to the guy, he started stuff, I rolled over something, and he, uhh, started beating on me."

Rose held back a sarcastic remark; now was not the time nor place. "Well, humor me then."

"Uhh, fine." He sat up straight, looking at her.

(AN: Super duper quick, this part is going to be told in parallels, so keep that in mind. It'll be told in alternating lines, starting with John, to avoid confusion. This is from Rose's perspective from both conversations, combining both to understand what happened).

"So, it's lunch time, right? I'm going to the cafeteria to grab some food."

"Then, uhh, he walked into me. I don't think he saw me."

"And I'm all, 'Yo, sorry about that!' and I offer to get him some grub in return for bumping into me."

"He, uhh, called me 'The guy that fell off the cliff'. Yeah, he forgot my name."

"Look, I only heard about him, and I thought he'd think it was funny."

"So I tell him he could, uhh, forget the food thing. I mean, my feelings were, umm, understandably kind of hurt."

"That put me off a bit, but hey, whatever right? Until, of course-"

"Something fell out of his pocket when he was walking away, so I, uhh, rolled over and picked it up-"

"And read it! It took me a second to realize it was gone, but as soon as I did, I saw that bastard with his grubby little hands over Dad's last note for me-"

"He turned on me pretty, uhh, quick. I'll be honest, I, uhh, flinched and pulled back-"

"RIPPING IT APART! *John pauses* Ok, ok, everything goes a little black at this part."

"He flipped his lid and punched me in the face, knocking me down. You can see the wheelchair; I'm, uhh, practically defenseless. I didn't do anything but defend myself."

"I don't care what he has to say, he ruined the one thing that kept me sane, Rose. Go ahead and write me up or whatever, I don't regret it."

~~~~~20 minutes after her meeting with John~~~~~

So, Tavros accidentally caused John's letter to get destroyed. While she did not approve of what John did, she did understand his reaction. He has an unhealthy attachment to his past, particularly his father. The note's ripping undoubtedly caused a mental snap in John's head. Well, now it was time to settle this. She was responsible for diagnosing the situation and dealing out the consequences.

First Tavros. That would be the easiest one to deal with. The two of them sat outside her office, opposite sides of the miniature hallway.

Opening the door, she called for him. "Mr. Nitram, you first please."

As he rolled into the room, she decided what she would do with him.

She cleared her throat. "While I can't say I'm not somewhat biased, in all fairness, you are not the majority holder of the blame."

He nodded. "See? I'm, uhh-"

"However," She said, cutting him off. "You are accountable for breaking a privacy agreement. You are not allowed to go through another crew-members belongings. Some may even say Mr. Egbert was in the right. I do not, at least to a degree. He was extreme in action, though I understand. Now then, your consequence will be this: you will stay away from Mr. Egbert for the next month, allowing things to simmer down. Additionally, you will read the privacy agreement during that time period, hopefully to avoid this situation again."

He didn't look pleased, but she didn't care. She couldn't. Helping in these situations called for neutrality. She was biased, yes, but she made sure that didn't affect the judgment.

"Now then, you are dismissed. Please inform Mr. Egbert that it's time for his ruling."

"Doesn't that, uhh, negate what you just told me not to do?" He asked, border-line sarcastically.

"Mr. Nitram, I highly suggest to not test my patience. If I expected you to react like a child, I would have treated you like one, yet I did so as an adult. Now please, do what I asked before I lose my patience."

He mumbled something to himself as he rolled out of her office. A few moments later, John walked him, scowling as he glared down the hallway.

"So, how much jail time do I have to serve?" He asked, sitting down in the chair.

"None, though you could have outside of this facility. Only due to him being unable to charge presses according to a clause in the privacy agreement. However, there are consequences."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. Look, I don't care how much you hit me with, I'm never going to regret that. You know how much that letter meant to me, so go ahead and do what you gotta do."

Well... Here it goes. "Community service."

He looked confused. "Huh?"

Nodding, she replied, "Yes, community service. I believe you need to be more considerate of others. No better way than helping someone in need. I believe you heard of a Miss Serket?"

He thought for a moment. "Isn't that Nitram's ex?"

She nodded again. "Yes. She needs help adapting to her robotic arm and lacking of an eye. You will help her until she no longer requires the aid. Are we clear?"

"Ugh... Fine." As he got up, he looked straight at her. "This doesn't change anything though. That asswipe of a person? He's never leaving my shit-list."

Rose sighed. "We'll work on that during our next session." That was certainly going to be a tiring one.

"Whatever you say Rose. Oh!" His tone quickly changed. A defensive mechanism. She could still see his anger, though false humor and happiness tried to replace it. "Are the four of us still going out? We've been planning it for a week now, right?"

Oh yes, their friend-date thing. Her, John, Miss Harley and David. They had planned an outing soon, a bonding event. She was looking forward to it, though she wouldn't say that directly. And, she admired John's clever subject change.

She nodded. "Yes, John. Now then, I have paperwork to file concerning this even. We'll speak later, alright?"

"Ok Rose; welp, I'll talk to ta' later then!" He exited the room, holding a false smile.

Like she said, the two of them would work on that eventually. Honestly, this whole ordeal was wearing her down, and it'd only get worse. Perhaps she needed help herself. She'd have to bring up the idea of adding another psychiatrist to the team with Mr. Harley the next time they spoke. It'd be nice to relieve some of the pressure. Now then, on to hours of tedious paperwork and scheduling counselling sessions.


	23. A Broken Bond

January 13, 2218

Terezi laying around in her room, trying to adjust her bearings when she heard her. Though, she 'smelt' her first.

She hesitated. She spent weeks planning how this would go, but now? Now she was feeling too much. Luckily, she was laying away from the door, avoiding Serket's gaze. Oh, Terezi knew she was there alright. Some fucking nose tech they shoved up in her head. Apparently eyes were 'weird' and the subjects ended up seeing a bunch of illusions that screwed some bolts loose. Or, however that expression goes. Doesn't matter anyway. Which one to choose? Anger? Fury? No, too obvious. Screw it, let's go with sarcastic.

"I'm sorry Vriska, but I believe you've already ruined my life; thank you for dropping by though. You could try Lalonde though. We all need hobbies, after all."

It sounded like Vriska raised her arm, but she lowered it. "Look, you know I'm not use to this, ok? I never meant to-"

"Cripple your boyfriend? Blind me? Oh, I'm sure you didn't. In fact, why don't we just braid each other's hair and forget the whole thing?" She sat up. "Wait," She faked an obnoxious chuckle. "We can't, because I'm fucking blind!" She yelled at Vriska's general direction. No point in avoiding the anger part.

Vriska scoffed. "Hey, I got pretty screwed up too you know! I know you can't see it, but I might as well be called Nubs until I get some robot arm."

"Oh, poor Miss Muffet fell off her tuffet, trying to shift the blame. But she was the spider, who played with fire, and she'd always stay that way." Terezi had to resort to taunting her or things would have gotten violent.

"Are you proud of yourself? Really. That was lame."

Terezi pointed to where she thought Vriska was. "If I didn't try being sarcastic, my fist would be through your teeth right now!"

"I'm over here, Pyrope. And I'm trying to apologize, but you won't let me!"

Ugh, Terezi shifted slightly to her left. "Because you've ruined my life. You see these shades I'm wearing?" She touched her red glasses. "Here's why I'm wearing them." She took them off, revealing to Vriska the still freshly burnt skin. She didn't know how bad it was, but it was enough to make most people gag first time around. Serket was no exception. She put her glasses back on, hiding her wounds.

Serket's tone changed pretty damn quick after that. "I... Really am sorry. I thought it would be funny. I thought-"

Terezi sighed. They've known each other for years. She could hold a grudge, but Vriska rarely used that tone. She was sorry. Maybe Terezi could forgive her one day. Maybe. But for now? Terezi might as well have been the Roman candle that exploded in her face.

"Vriska, just... Go away. Whenever you screw up your life as badly as mine and Tavros' then we'll talk."

She sensed her staying there for a moment before she left without another word. Terezi didn't care though. Not now, at least. Hell, she didn't even figure out what her room looked like. She needed to figure out how to operate like a normal person before she could even deal with people.

Some time had passed before anything else happened. She couldn't really tell how long. Someone knocked on the door. Hmm, didn't smell like Serket groveling back. It was familiar though.

"Come in." She said to the unknown stranger. They entered the room, though they were quiet about it. Cherry. Interesting. "May I ask who this is? I believe it's rather dark in here, don't you?"

"Actually, I'd say it's pretty fucking bright." The stranger replied. A him, at that.

"Really? Well, I haven't noticed it myself. The question remains the same though."

He scoffed. "I know you're blind, but you should still know your captain when you hear him."

Ah, him. Yes, she's heard of him. By that she meant she's heard his rambling lectures and plans once they all reach their destination. "Captain!" She started off sarcastically. "You certainly look different in this lighting. I should have know it was you. You and a Mr. Strider are the only ones who wear that spray." She chuckled. "And of course, he has a sense of humor."

"Ugh, look, I didn't come here to deal with your self-pitying jokes. I overheard Vriska blowing off some steam to people about you not forgiving her, and as your leader, it is my responsibility to make sure the two of you don't get us killed."

Terezi frowned, dropping the humor in her voice. "How I handle my business is none of yours, 'Oh Mighty Leader'. Thank you for your concern, but make sure the door doesn't hit you on the way out."

"Oh my literal god, you're still wallowing in your own pity. Look, life sucks, ok? Hell, I should have died when I was born. You get through it, and you get stronger. I'm not telling you to go to her and forgive her; she's the bitch that fucked you up. I'm telling you to make sure it doesn't affect your performance out there. Look," It sounded like he was scratching his hair. His tone even softened a little. "a lot of people out there don't think you have what it takes anymore because you can't see shit. I don't want to see you prove them right." He cleared his throat, his voice returning to normal. "Now then, are we clear, Miss Pyrope? I don't want to see this screwing up our mission."

Wow. Terezi didn't know what to say. For a moment, it was almost like Vantas didn't have his head shoved up his ass. Maybe the Tin Man did have a heart. "Whatever you say, Captain." This time though, she said it genuinely.

"Good. I gotta go now; unlike you and everyone else, I actually have some majorly important shit to do." He hesitated. "Maybe I'll see you around and stuff."

Terezi chuckled lightly. "I don't think I can say the same."

"Wait, I didn't mean to-" He started.

She waved it off. "It's a joke, Mr. Vantas. I'll have to show you how to tell one some day."

"Oh, ok." He said, leaving the room.

Hmm. Apparently emotions give off a smell too. Could that smell he had had been embarrassment? Interesting. In any case, she needed to rest now. It would be another long day tomorrow.


	24. Therapy Session

_July 9, 2218_

He sat across from her, impatiently tapping his foot. "Look, how long do I have to be here? I'm a very fucking busy person, and I have things I need to do." He told her curtly.

"Mr. Vantas, you know as well as I do that we need to discuss your anger management." Kanaya said, her voice holding calmer than his.

Throwing his hands up, Karkat replied, "It's not that big of a fucking problem! Who gives a rat's ass if I tell some thick-skulled slackers to shape up a little?!"

Kanaya's eyebrows arched. Clearing her throat, she picked up a piece of paper to read. "'You biological wastes of carbon need to get over the fact that your mothers dropped you when you were born and try to act like you have some sort of brain.'"

He rolled his eyes. "So what if I snap sometimes?"

"'If you don't get back to training, I'll shove your stupid shades so far down your throat that we'll mistake your ass for your face- oh wait, we already do.'"

"You know what, give me that stupid paper!" He made an attempt for Kanaya's form, but she quickly slapped his hand. "Oww, fuck!" He pulled back, holding his stinging hand. "God, how in the holy hell did you make that hurt?"

"Talent, Mr. Vantas, and I do believe that action proves the very problem we are trying to fix." She told him, with a moderately victorious tone. "Now, why do you think you lash out as you do? Your records indicate that you are rather aggressive by nature, but I'm not inclined to believe a paper more than a person."

Scoffing, he replied, "No, it's totally right. I'm an assertive asshole that hates everybody."

"Really now?" Kanaya asked. "Hmm... If I may, why did you chose Miss Pyrope as your co-captain?"

He was taken back, the question catching him off guard. Poorly doing so, he tried to dodge the question. "Why do you wear a fucking skirt all the time? Better yet, what does this have to do with my anger problems? Nothing. So why don't we try to stay on task here? I don't feel like doing your job too." He finished quickly, mentally kicking himself for the horrible lying.

"Well, in one way, you are correct. However, I believe that any act of kindness has a cause, and if someone has a reason to be kind, they have a reason to be cruel. Tell me Mr. Vantas, would you like to discuss why you are kind or why you are cruel?" Kanaya asked, trapping him between two uncomfortable conversations.

Silence hung between the two of them, filled only with his glare and her staring back. Finally, he sighed. "Fuck you. Look, they're the same reason, ok? Christ." He rubbed his hair. "I know what it's like to have people look at you like you're some dog crap they stepped in. Do you? I don't think so, Miss Perfect. You're the kind that go through life with everyone parting like the Red fucking Sea. Me? I might as well be some crab washed away in the waves. I've gone through my entire life hurt and in pain, and I'm done taking shit from anybody, I'm done talking about this, and I'm done talking to you." He finished, folding his arms and looking away.

She didn't say anything, but she looked at him. What to say... Perhaps...

"Karkat... Would you feel more comfortable with talking to me if I were to share my own life story with you?"

He looked at her, obviously stunned by the change in name. He shook his head, but responded, "I don't think it'll change a damn thing, but sure."

She nodded. Reflecting upon her own past was something of a... Pain, but she was willing if it would help this man who was hurting.

She began, "In my youth, I was something of a rather plucky young girl. In fact, I use to be far more sociable than I am currently. Something soon became rather evident, however. It started with a girl who, for anonymity, shall be named Sally."

"I don't get what this has to do with anything." Karkat complained, interrupting.

"Well, you'll find out, won't you?" She replied somewhat-curtly. "Now then, Sally and I were the best of friends in grade school. Inseparable, one could say. Then, one day, something peculiar happened: she kissed me. No doubt, you could imagine my surprise. Even stranger, I found myself happy she did so. Homosexuality in general had made much progress at that point, but it was still something of conflict, at least as far as the other children were concerned. I believe children naturally exclude others, but that's another topic."

"So... You and her-" Karkat started.

"Please, allow me to finish." Kanaya told him. Oddly enough, he obliged her. "The other children found out eventually and so began years of ridiculing and bullying. I won't go into details, as I'm sure you could picture that."

Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah... Well, it made you two stronger, just like it did for me."

She smiled, though it held no warmth. "Sadly, only one of us came out stronger. She was rather... Timid, you see. Fragile. It was only a matter of time, now that I reflect upon it."

His eyes grew, understanding. "Oh." He hesitated, looking as though he wanted to say more.

Before he could, she told him, "Please don't tell me you're sorry or anything of the likes. I've grieved and moved on. Ever since, I've become determined to understand how the mind works and how to help those who need it. My helping has reason. Now that you understand my reason, perhaps you'll share your own?"

He looked at her, and she could see weariness in his eyes. "I'll tell you why I helped her, and we'll see where things go from there."

She nodded. "Any progress we can make is good, Mr. Vantas."

He turned his head, looking at a wall and away from her. "I know she's got guts. Hell, she'd probably make a better leader than me some times. She's smart and quick. Everyone else? They just see a blind girl who's helpless. When people use to look at me, they saw a weak boy who'd pass out when he got out of bed." He shook his head. "I refuse to let that happen to someone else. Not on my watch."

"I see... So why do you take your pented aggression on others and not her?"

He looked at her, getting up as he did. "Because they should be able to match a blind girl and a weak boy. Anything less isn't acceptable. We have to work twice as hard as them, and they get to slack off? That's not right." Walking away, he approached the door. "We're done, Kanaya. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Maybe later, but not now. And..." He paused, his back to her as he stood in the doorway. "Thanks, for telling me about what happened to you. I'll keep it to myself." He left the room without further word.

Well... They were making progress, at least. In any case, she needed to record this session down, to remember what drives him. Though... she would leave out her own story, of course. No one needs to know that was a factor. Hopefully he was a man of his word. She had accepted and embraced all of her qualities, though she wasn't sure how others may feel about it. Perhaps she was paranoid. Oh, lost in her thoughts again. Back to paperwork.

(AN: Hey there; sorry I haven't updated in awhile guys! A lot's been going on for me recently, and I won't have all the time I use to to write.. HOWEVER *Dramatic pause*, I've been setting up some help for the story: A co-writer. Fanfiction user 'Luna the HP fan' had volunteered to help out, so we're working out stuff as we speak to get this story back into high gear! Thank you for your patience and continued reading of ExplorationStuck!)


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